29/03/2016 Victoria Derbyshire

Good morning. It is Tuesday, 9am and I'm Victoria Derbyshire, welcome to

the programme. Breaking news, and Egypt air passenger plane has been

hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus. The suicide bomber is

thought to have a suicide vest on him or with him. All the passengers

have been released except for seven members of the group and four

non-Egyptians. According to one Cypriot newspaper, three British

people are thought to be still on board will stop that is unconfirmed.

We will bring you all the details. Breaking News this morning is that

Egyptair says one of its planes has been hijacked and forced to land at

Larnaca in Cyprus. The hijacker is believed to be strapped with

explosives. Egyptair says all passengers on board, barring four

foreigners and seven members of crew, have now been released.

There are unconfirmed reports three Britons are still on board.

The Foreign Office has said it is working to establish

if there are any Britons among the passengers.

The flight took off from Saudi Arabia and was taken over as it flew

from Alexandria en route to the Egyptian capital, Cairo. It is now

on the ground at Larnaca airport in Cyprus. Egyptair sent out a tweet

this morning announcing one of their planes had been hijacked. Here it

is,... That was about an hour and 20

minutes or so ago. With us now is the BBC's

correspondent in Cairo Ranyah Sabry. What do you know what this stage?

The Egyptair flight took off from an International Airport in Saudi

Arabia heading to the Egyptian capital Cairo via Alexandria. It

landed in exciting and -- in Alexandria, where scores of

Egyptians got off. It took off again, supposedly to Cairo, it was

redirect it to Cyprus and landed there. The Cypriot officials were

the first to announce that the plane was hijacked, supposedly at 5:30am

GMT. It is not clear whether the hijacker got on in Alexandria or

initially in Saudi Arabia, and whether he has a suicide belt or

not, an explosive out. He claims to be armed, he told the pilot that he

had an explosive belt, it has not been confirmed so far. But the pilot

took his word and redirected the plane. Initially, the hijacker

requested to go to Turkey, but the pilot said the fuel was not enough

to fly out there, which is why he picked Cyprus as an alternative

route. Reports the hijacker is asking for asylum in Cyprus. In

terms of those passengers still on board and the crew still on board,

and those that have been released, tell us the differences between them

at this stage, as far as we know? It is believed that all Egyptian

passengers have been allowed to leave the plane, who is left on the

plane is the crew, seven Egyptian members, employees of Egyptair, in

addition to four non-Egyptian 's. Their nationalities are not clear at

the moment, apart from seeking asylum in the hijacker has not made

any claims or requests and no entity has claimed responsibility so far

for the accident. It is a bit ambiguous and it is the only demand

of the hijacker, just to seek asylum in a country different to his

homeland, Egypt. We are looking for more details or a claim of

responsibility. The Egyptian officials have endorsed the fact

that the plane has been hijacked, they say they are looking into the

situation and cooperating with the crisis team in Cyprus, but nothing

more is clear. In terms of this man asking for asylum, I am reading this

on wires, it is being reported by the French news agency AFP, the man,

who is not Egyptian, asked for a translator to press his demand, and

there are no further details of what else he might want. He apparently

has demanded asylum on Cyprus. Exactly. The fact that he is not

Egyptian, this is not very clear. According to the name circulated at

the moment, he could very well be Egyptian, it is a very ordinary

Egyptian name, had he needed a translation into English or to speak

to the Cypriot officials. Apart from the asylum he has not so far as

anything else. All the passengers who left the plane were not harmed.

According to images we have seen of the plane in the airport, the

hostess walked the passengers out of the plane, she stood at the top of

the stairs looking at them, which seemed to be comparatively composts.

She was composed, having been in this situation for a fewer hours --

seems to be comparatively composed. Nobody knows how grave all critical

this situation is, whether this man is as dangerous as he claims to be,

and he claimed to beat when he asked the pilot to redirect and land in

Cyprus. When those passengers were released, they walked to a waiting

bus, so negotiations had gone on between the pilot, the hijacker and

I traffic control on the ground. When they walked, there was not a

great deal of urgency when they walked to the bus, it was a calm

situation? Exactly, that is what I was saying, it was a calm situation

from the passengers, the air hostess was composed. One would expect she

would be in a frenzy or trying to go out with them or leave with them,

but she looked at them, make sure everybody was off the stairs, turned

around and re-entered the plane into what seems to be a calm situation

given the fact it has been going on for three hours, that a few minutes

before these people were not sure if they were going to be released safe

and unharmed. It is Khan at the moment, no losses, no injuries. --

it is calm at the moment. Just a demand for asylum in Cyprus. Matthew

Finn, an aviation security expert, joins me. How do you read this? A

hijacker apparently asking for asylum and telling the pilot that he

has a suicide vest on all with him? This is it, ultimately a hijacker is

about taking control of an aircraft, and how you do that is a level of

detail that is sometimes not as important. This person has been able

to exert control over the aircraft, diverted to Larnaca, it was not

chewed to go there. The crew believe there was a good enough reason to

divert the aircraft. It may be that he was able to present himself as

somebody who had a device, or that he does have a device, or does not,

we will not know that until it has played out. Still a dangerous

situation in the meantime? Absolutely. There is an aircraft

with people on board, the remaining passengers and crew. The crew is one

of the best assets on the ground right now. The Egyptair crew will be

calm, composed, they have training in this environment. It will not be

the first time they have been exposed to this situation, although

previously it would have been in training or simulation. Hopefully

their training will be kicking in and they can manage the situation

on-board the aircraft and can provide some helpful context for the

remaining passengers on board. If an individual wanted asylum, can you

think other plausible explanation as to why you would release the

Egyptian passengers but keep the non-Egyptian passengers on board? I

would not want to second-guess the motives. It could be that they have

their own potentially mental health issues, there are many instances of

aviation incidents where somebody has taken control and they have not

been battered well. -- have not been very well. It will be difficult to

second-guess. We will pause for a moment. Our correspondents in Cairo

will stay with us. I am told that we can speak to somebody from a Cyprus

newsagency. You are at the airport, what do you know? In the last half

an hour, 45 minutes, there is no movement. I can see the aeroplane,

there is no movement, the last movement was at around 9:20am,

passengers coming across. They were taken in a bus to the main building

of Larnaca airport. Everything is still, there is no movement coming

in or out of the aircraft. Of course, Larnaca airport is standing

still. There are no flights coming in or out. All the flights are

directed to Paphos airport. The passengers who were going to leave

to go to their destinations will be taken by buses to Paphos airport, as

long Islamic is closed. -- as long as Larnaca is closed. Have you heard

what we are reporting, that the hijacker wants asylum? No, I cannot

verify that information you have. There are rumours about the hijacker

wanting something, but I don't know. We don't have official information

from the police or the airport, I cannot verify or say anything.

Probably you have more information than we have, because we are in the

field just at the end of Larnaca airport. The police is moving us

from time to time further back from where we are standing, where we were

standing when we came at nine o'clock. We can see the plane

standing at the end of Larnaca airport, with no movement whatsoever

for the last couple of hours. Thank you for talking to us, that is a

correspondence from a Cyprus newsagency at the airport, but

clearly some distance away from where the plane is standing,

motionless. If you are just tuning in, good

morning, let's bring you the latest on the breaking news from Egypt,

that an Egyptair domestic flight from Alexandria to Cairo has been

highlight -- hijacked this morning and forced to land in Cyprus. The

pilot of the plane was threatened by a passenger who said he had a

suicide vest either on him with him, that is not clear yet. 55 passengers

on board and a crew of seven, most of the passengers were released

about half an hour or so ago. Those remaining on board, we are told, are

four non-Egyptians, and the seven crew members. It is also being

reported that the man who has forced the plane to land in Cyprus is

demanding asylum. Those passengers released a little earlier walked to

a waiting bus, pretty calmly, it has to be said. There did not seem to be

an air of panic, although no doubt on-board that plane as it forced to

divert, it was meant to be landing at Cairo, it was diverted to

Larnaca, no doubt there would have been a lot of unsettled people on

board, Matthew Finn? Absolutely, who knows what was going on on board the

aircraft at that time? It is a very stressful situation. I come back to

the crew who will hopefully remember their training, they are a great

asset in these situations. What will they be doing now? Keeping

communication going, hopefully providing a buffer between the

hijacker and the passengers, continuing in their GT of care,

looking after the safety and well-being of passengers so there is

no direct interaction between the hijacker and passengers themselves.

Given the discussion about nationality, it was possibly the

crew that had to go out and get the travel documents to reveal who was

from which country around the world. Providing basic information and

water, all of these things are really important to keep the

situation under control and keep the communication flowing around the

aircraft and with the people on the ground. And clearly ago she Asians

must have been going on earlier in order to release those Egyptian

passengers? -- and clearly negotiations must have been going

on? O'Gara even to get the stairs, it would have required lines of

communication, dialogue to be established. This is good use will

stop if there is communication there is the capability to start mediation

and negotiation, so it is all very positive, as is the release of the

majority of passengers. It was reassuring to see the calm manner in

which they were released from the aircraft. Obviously now attention

remains on those passengers and crew who remain in the aircraft, and

understanding that those lines of communication remain open. And a

dialogue can continue to be established to affect a safe outcome

for everybody involved. #6 l on the flight. We'll keep our

coverage here on BBC News with Victoria Derbyshire. #6 It's now

being reported by Cypriot media that the hijacker has asked for a letter

to be handed over to a woman in Cyprus. One newspaper says the woman

is the hijacker's ex-wife. Ranyah, I think you are still with us, you are

getting this information I think at the same time? Yes, we are. The

hijacker has requested this letter to be delivered to his ex-wife who

lives in Cyprus, but we have also been receiving reports that

initially he had asked the pilot to go to Istanbul, Turkey, not Cyprus.

Let me also correct a bit of information, this was not an

internal flight, it was an international flight initiated from

Saudi Arabia, heading to Cairo via Alexandria. It landed in Alexandria,

people got off there, it took off again to head to Cairo, then it was

diverted and landed in Cyprus. So it's an international flight, not an

internal flight and it's not known if the hijacker got on the plane in

Saudi Arabia or in Alexandria. That remains to be confirmed by the

authorities once the investigation is on its way. The hijacker asked

the pilot to redirect to Turkey and the pilot replied that he did not

have enough fuel in the plane and then he chose Cyprus as an

alternative route. We have heard that he has requested this letter to

be handed to his ex-wife who lives in the country and that he has

sought asylum in Cyprus as well. Matthew Finn, unconfirmed the fact

this hijacker has asked for a letter to be handed over to a woman in

Cyprus, said to be his ex-wife. If that turns out to be the case, we

are looking at a very different scenario than we thought we were

looking at about half an hour or so ago? We are and it's actually

reassuring in many respects. What I said earlier about so many instances

that happen in aviation, there are far more instances of disruptive or

violent behaviour on board aircraft than are reported in the press.

Obviously major aviation security incidents and hijacks like the one

today get a lot of attention. But there are other lesser talked about

instances where people are suffering with mental health, maybe even had

too much to drink or other situations like that. What it

appears in this situation, as it unfolds, is that the person in

question is just merely trying to get in touch with his ex-wife. If

that is the case, hopefully this situation can be quickly dealt with

and managed. Yes. Unconfirmed that that is the scenario that he wants

this letter to be handed over to a woman in Cyprus, although reported

earlier that he's demanding asylum in Cyprus.

Let's talk now to Jason Burke from the Guardian newspaper who is in

Lahore today. Jason Burke, again, unconfirmed reports that this man

who hijacked this plane has asked for asylum. But it's initially

thought that this could be another potential terrorist attack, that was

the initial thought? Yes, understandable given the week we

have had and the history of Islamic militants around the world targeting

aviation. We know that aviation is a favourite target for Islamic

militants, most obviously infamously with the 20019/11 attacks. But

before and half, it does now look, thankfully, as though this is very

much not Islamic militancy, it may even be the case that the supposed

suicide bomb or belt that the passenger is supposedly equipped

with may turn out to be fake or something different. It's

understandable that we are jumpy about it, it does underline the

importance of not jumping to conclusions in these sorts of

situations too early. Yes, absolutely right. It's worth

saying hijacking is pretty rare isn't it? It is very rare. You've

had maybe a dozen or so successful hijacks in the last 15 years. The

golden age, as it was called, of hijacking, was in the 70s, that was

partly due to the almost entire absence of any serious security

controls, certainly at the beginning of the decade and it was used by

terrorists then, rather different types of terrorists but still

terrorists to gain global attention for their cause. It was an effective

way of doing so. One of the most spectacular events of the 70s in

terms of hijacking was of three or four planes landed in northern

Jordan. They were blown up without any of the passengers on board. The

passengers were disembarked, then the planes were blown up simply for

the spectacular images and to make that point a terrorist wants to make

and to gain the attention that they want to gain. This obviously is a

very different situation and the motives of the passenger which are

still unclear seem to be of an entirely different nature. Jason

Burke, many thanks. Just to update you if you are just

tuning in. This is the breaking news from the last hour or so, a man has

hijacked an Egyptair plane travelling from Alexandria to Cairo

forcing it to land in Cyprus. The plane began its flight in Saudi

Arabia, it was an international flight. Most passengers have been

released but at least four foreign passengers and crew were sold -- we

are told, remain on board. Egyptian state media have highlighted the

hijacker as an Egyptian national. It's believed he's demanded asylum

in Cyprus. The hijacker was reportedly either strapped with

explosives or certainly said he had a suicide vest. That is what the

pilot reported to air control. That's not been confirmed. Matthew

Finn is an aviation security expert. If you are a passenger on a plane

and want to divert it, then presumably you need to say you have

a suicide vest, don't you? Well, again, that goes back to that

conversation earlier about control. Arguably, a lot of ayiation security

is about preventing people from getting prohibited items, weapons,

grenades, explosives on board. If indeed this hijacker has any of

those? Yes. But arguably, with intent, you could actually

demonstrate that you have a device, you can pretend to have a device,

and if that is believable or credible, you can still effect the

same outcome. So that might be the case here,

whether the passenger doesn't actually have any device on him

whatsoever but is saying that he has a device and is going to detonate it

at any given time. It's about control. You don't need to get to

the pilot to get that message through to the pilot do you? That's

quite difficult today. That's one of the single most effective responses

post-9/11, to reinforce the cockpit door. That prevents anyone from

gaining access to the aircraft that doesn't have legitimate access to

it. The reality is that becoming difficult to manage in a situation

where your fellow crew members and passengers are just on the other

side of a door suffering under a particular situation. So the door

should remain closed, the question is, does it always. But that is a

good mechanism to prevent that from happening. There is a line of

communication between the flight deck and the cabin. The cabin crew

could have relayed that message to the flight deck saying this is the

situation we have, established that line of communication with the

captain, who then chose to divert to Larnaca because of, as we heard,

fuel limitations. Yes, the pilot asked initially by

the hijacker to redirect the plane to Turkey. The pilot said, I don't

have enough fuel for that, and so they ended up in Larnaca Airport in

Cyprus. Matthew Finn thank you very much for your time. Still much

unconfirmed on this story. Jonny Dymond is here. The nature of the

story appears to be changing? It does appear to be changing from what

is probably everyone's first reaction these days which is, is

this a terrorist act and people indeed leap very quickly to Islamic

state, so jittery are we, so-called Islamic state we should say. It's

emerging this man is not carrying out a political act or not a broad

political act. He may or may not have tried to get in touch with

someone on the island of Cyprus. He appears to have claimed asylum.

Again, all these suggestions and claims have to be qualified, we are

not getting hard facts. He's released the majority of the

passengers very, very early on which is not what you would do in general

if you were hijacking a plane. Nearly all of them we understand,

bar four foreign nationals and the seven crew, have been released.

There are still extremely important questions to be asked. First of all,

is he wearing what he appears to say he is wearing, which is a suicide

belt and secondly, where did he board this plane, did he board in

Alexandria or at its original point which was Saudi Arabia. If he

boarded it in Alexandria, if he is carrying a suicide belt, it's an

astonishing lapse by the Egyptian authorities. In 2015, a plane from

Sharm El-Sheikh was bombed out of the sky, everybody killed. What

looks like a catastrophic lapse in security by the Egyptian end of

things in Sharm El-Sheikh. If this man's got on a plane with anything

resembling a suicide belt in Alex and aye, it will be a huge blow for

Egypt and its tourist industry and reputation -- Alexandria. When we

saw the majority of the passengers being released earlier, there

appeared to be a mood of calm. Nobody was dashing for the bus that

was waiting to take them to freedom, people were walking in a composed

manner. We are told the stewardess was composed too? This looks very,

very different from the kinds of things we heard Jason Burke talking

about there from this so-called golden age, fairly grim term, of

terrorism, where passengers might be kept on board planes for days on

end. Food and water would be brought in, passengers would be split off,

taken to hotels. This is a very different story. This starts to look

like a very upset man with some personal difficulties, perhaps

personal political difficulties thus the suggested claim for asylum in

the island of Cyprus, a claim which seems unlikely will get granted if

this is his way of doing it. It starts to look like a smaller

affair, albeit still very dangerous. There are 11 people on board. It's a

difficult time but it's not, it looks like the sort of classic

terrorist act, of the 1970s where a plane load of passengers, perhaps

several plane loads at one time if you remember in Jordan in the early

1970s, that happened and they were taken, held and used as bargaining

chips in front of the global media. If he is using the remaining

passengers as bargaining chips, we are told they are non-Egyptian. We

are told they are foreign nationals. What could be an explanation for

that, do you think? It's extremely difficult because it appears, and

again we are in the realms of speculation, but it appears in

amongst the passengers released earlier, about an hour ago, there

were or may have been foreign nationals there, so it's not quite

clear whether or not he has attempted to keep foreign nationals

back and release Egyptian citizens in the hope perhaps that foreign

nationals are in this perverse world worth more, or whether it's just an

accident of fate. Obviously foreign governments around the world will be

scrambling to find out if they are their nationals. We don't have hard

certainty as to whether or not any British citizens were involved, we

don't know the nationalities of the rest of those who were relessed. The

likelihood is, if this was a partly internal flight, because this was

Saudi Arabia, Alexandria, then it was meant to go to Cairo. The

likelihood is, most of the people on board are Egyptian citizens. We are

slightly in the dark about quite why four in particular foreign nationals

were held back when the vast majority of the others were

released. Yes. If you are one of those passengers left on board

though, you will be feeling very afraid right now? It's an absolutely

terrifying time. If you talk to people who've been in any of these

kinds of situations, it's immensely isolating. You go from what is an

absolutely routine experience for many, many people now, which is

catching a plane, internal flight, even an international flight, you go

from that and suddenly your world is changed, you are cut off from the

rest of the passengers, you have very limited communications,

presumably unless they have ability to get through on their mobile

phones, sudden think hire acte is reversed, the people who you have

entrusted your safety to, the crew of the plane are no longer really in

control. They'll presumably take some Sukur from the fact that the

majority of the passengers have been released. We have got around 40-odd

passengers released after 55 in total we think there were.

Presumably it's relatively calm on board the plane and there are

negotiations ongoing. Yes. We'll talk about the

negotiations in a second. Reuters is reporting that the Cyprus state

broadcaster is reporting that more passengers have been seen leaving

the hijacked Egyptair plane. We don't have the live pictures of that

at the moment. This is according to Reuters. They say Cyprus state

broadcaster are showing more passengers leaving the Egyptair

plane as it stands stationary on the ground at Larnaca.

If that is true, very good news? Very good news. It suggests,

although we don't want to jump ahead of ourselves, it suggests that this

may be winding down. Let's stand back, there was 55 passengers and

seven crew, it then was down to four passengers left on the plane with

the seven crew. If we are seeing more passengers coming out, that is

in all likelihood the rest of the passengers coming out. Perhaps some

crew with them as well, we don't know.

It starts to sound like the kind of thing Turkey experienced a couple of

years ago, where you would get somebody who was not entirely stable

grabbing some of that looked like explosives, I think it was a handful

of candles in one case, the pilot reacts as safely as possible but it

is not the kind of threat that people assume when they hear the

word hijacking. It begins to look like that, but we will have to see.

The associated rest is saying that 56 people on board the hijacked

plane have now been released, they had left the aircraft, it would

suggest that all the passengers and one member of the crew. Reuters say

that the hijacker is a professor of that in a and at Alexandria

University. The Egyptair hijacker, Reuters says, a professor of

veterinary medicine at Alexandria University. That has come from the

University website, apparently. Obviously a fairly unlikely

profession for I hijacker, it is not something you get every day, a

professor of veterinary medicine carrying out a hijacking, if that is

the case. It seems to lean towards, rather than it being a big,

political hijacking, that this man has temporarily, perhaps, taken

leave of his senses and has been driven by some force which we do not

quite know to carry this hijacking. What is exceptionally good news for

those on board is that he appears to be acting incredibly rationally,

perhaps having second thoughts when faced with a planeload of clearly

terrified passengers and thinking, I have to buying this down, these

people need releasing. -- I had to wind this down. It seems that all

passengers and one crew member, about an hour and a half after the

plane landed, have been released. Exceptional good news if this is the

case. Some broadcasters in Cyprus showed this image of the man they

claim is the hijacker. We have not been able to independently verify

this, but you can see it here. Just to say again, it has not been

independently verified, we have not verified it, but some broadcasters

are showing this still image of the man they say is the hijacker of the

plane, the professor of veterinary medicine, we are told, from

Alexandria University. This is the image we are being shown of the man

who told the Egyptair pilot that he had a suicide vest on all with him,

and he wanted the plane to be diverted to Turkey, actually. The

pilot said he did not have enough fuel for that. The plane has ended

up in site press ad Larnaca airport. -- ended up in Cyprus. Some

broadcasters are showing this image of the man they say has hijacked

this particular Egyptair plane. According to Reuters, if it is,

indeed, the hijacker, is a professor of veterinary medicine from

Alexandria University. Jonny Diamond, thank you very much

for the moment. It is coming up to 9:30am.

The airline Egyptair says one of its flights has been hijacked

The hijacker's reportedly had a suicide belt on him or with him.

Cyprus state media has said he has demanded asylum in the country.

Reuters report he is a professor of veterinary medicine from Alexandria

universe due. Egyptair says most passengers

on board, barring four foreigners and seven members of the crew,

have now been released. But, as you know, in the last few

seconds, one news agency, Associated Press, quotes a Cyprus official as

saying that 56 people on board have been released, winning all

passengers and potentially one crewmember.

The Foreign Office has said it is working to establish

if there are any Britons among the passengers.

The flight originally took off from Saudi Arabia and stopped off

in Alexandria, which is when it was taken over as it

It is now on the ground at Larnaca airport in Cyprus.

We also understand that flights to Larnaca are being

Earlier our correspondent in Cairo, Ranyah Sabry gave us the latest.

The Egyptair flight took off from the International Airport in Saudi

Arabia heading to the Egyptian capital, Cairo, via Alexandria. It

landed in Alexandria, where scores of Egyptians got off in their home

village, when it took off again, supposedly to Cairo, it was redirect

did toward Cyprus and landed there. The Cypriot officials were this

verse to announce that the plane was hijacked, supposedly, add 5:30am

GMT. It is not clear at the moment whether the hijacker got on in

Alexandria or in Saudi Arabia, and also whether he has a suicide belt

or not. He claims to be armed, he told the pilot that he had an

explosive belt, but it has not been confirmed so far. The pilot took him

at his word and redirected the plate. Initially, the hijacker

requested to go to Turkey, but according to the pilot fuel was not

enough to fly out, which is why he picked Cyprus as an alternative

route, and there are reports that the hijacker is asking for asylum in

Cyprus. It is being reported in the Cypriot

media that the hijacker might have personal motives and he has asked

boiler tipped to be delivered to his ex-wife. Aviation security expert

Matthew Finn says, if true, that changes it completely. It is

reassuring in many affect. What I said about some of the instances

that happen in aviation, there are far more instances of disruptive or

violent behaviour on board aircraft than reported in the press.

Obviously major aviation security incident and hijacks like the one

today get attention, but there are lesser talked about instances where

people are suffering from mental health, have maybe had too much to

drink or other situations like that. It appears, as this situation

unfolds, that the person in question was merely trying to get in touch

with his ex-wife. If that is the case, hopefully the situation can be

quickly dealt with and manage. On the line is Michael Theodolou,

a British journalist for the Times What are you hearing? The latest

report in the local media is that the man may have personal motives,

that there was a letter written in Arabic which was dropped onto the

tarmac, asking it to be delivered to his ex-wife who is apparently a

Cypriot. That is good news, it suggests he does not have big

political motives, he is not demanding safe release of terrorist

prisoners in other countries. More people have been seen leaving the

plane in the last few minutes. Reuters are reporting that this man

is a professor of veterinary medicine from Alexandria University?

Yes. That, I think, is coming from the Egyptian authorities and is an

encouraging sign. It does not fit the modern terrorist profile, if you

like. And it might suggest that early reports that he was supposed

to be carrying a suicide belt might be wrong, maybe he had something

that appeared to be very dangerous but questions would obviously had to

be asked how you get explosives onto a plane. Maybe he made something on

the plane look like it was dangerous. We are getting this

information reported by AFP, the French news agency, they say at

least five more people have been released from that plane. The five,

wearing what appeared to be crew uniforms, were descending from the

aircraft. And this has just reached us, the hijacker has an estranged

Cypriot wife, he has demanded to see her. A government source is telling

AFP that she is being brought to Larnaca airport as we speak. Yes, in

fact I have seen her named on social media, I will not repeat that

because it has not been confirmed, she is from a village outside

Larnaca, according to local reports. The Cypriot authorities, who have

experience of dealing with hijacks in the past, the last one was 20

years ago, but they are good at this and into which with the foreign

embassy. -- and in touch with. There is a strong security presence at

Larnaca airport, which has been closed for the time being. Thank

you, Michael. That was a British journalist for the Times newspaper

based in Cyprus. The Foreign Office has

updated its travel advice to people The aviation consultant

David Learmount joins us via webcam. Hello. What do you make of this in

terms of security? It is very, very significant. It is (INAUDIBLE)

Of discipline by the Egyptian crew. There was a great history of hijacks

starting in the 1970s. Ever since 9/11 and the security measures put

in place there, we have not had any hijacks. We are seeing something

extraordinary. That's captain, who access to just aren't being told

that somebody on board had a suicide vest, should have had sufficient

confidence in the security services to know that that was impossible,

therefore he should not have followed the instructions of the

hijacker. The only thing which might have made him nervous, again, it has

an Egyptian base, that is that a bomb was got on board an aircraft

which flew out of Sharm el-Sheikh in December last year. That may have

made him nervous, but it is no excuse. The Egyptian authorities

should have good unit security that back captain could have said, I know

the man is lying. That would be one heck of a call to make from a

pilot's point of view. It would indeed but, on the other hand, if

the person really does have a suicide belt on, and if they really

are a dangerous terrorist, and IS type terrorist, I would rather

suspect that they would not merely make a threat. I think they would

show what they have got. There have been a lot of hijacks before 9/11,

many wooden by precisely these means. The whole idea of the post

9/11 system was that the regime on board changed completely. Pre-9/11,

the captain accepted it and the problem was dealt with at the

destination specified by the hijacker. Since that time, the

regime on board has changed completely. If you go to the day

that 9/11 happened, one of the four aircraft which was hijacked which

did not hit its target, it was taken over by passengers who were picking

up mobile telephone calls, they realise that the aircraft had been

hijacked and they took over the hijacker. This situation has

changed, but this is going back into hijacking Stone Age. The Egyptians

are allowing this to happen. To stay with us, if you would, for a moment

or two, because now we can talk to a correspondence at the Cyprus

newsagency, she is at Larnaca airport. What is the latest that you

are hearing? The latest is that the hijacker, from what we understand,

is one person, has released the last five passengers or crew. He is on

the playwright now. -- on the plane right now. We know he is speaking to

people from the aviation, they are surveying his requests. What we are

waiting now is to be briefed by the crisis sent, hopefully soon. Sorry,

it is quite difficult to hear you, did you say the hijacker is the only

person left on board? That is except the what we have, that is the latest

information. So the pilot and the rest of the crew are off the plane?

Exactly. The passenger was taken to the new airport -- the passengers

were taken to. The airport is closed. All flights have been

diverted to Paphos airport. There are no planes landing there. The

situation is still fluid and the information coming through is very

slow. Device I don't know if you have heard this, one French news

agency has reported that the former wife of this hijacker is being

brought to the airport, because the hijacker has demanded to see her?

I have unconfirmed information that he was married to someone from the

Larnaca district and they have children and that Middle East making

some demands. But that is information also that is not

confirmed. OK.

Thank you very much. The image that you are seeing on screen right now

is being shown by some broadcasters who say that this is the face of the

hijacker, the man who forced this plane to divert. In the end, to

Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. He has, we are told, demanded asylum and

also it's being reported by various news agencies, demanded to see his

estranged Cypriot wife. If that is indeed the face of the hijacker,

then he's also said to be a Professor of Veterinary medicine

from Alexandria university. You can see on the map there exactly where

this plane was diverted from. It was an international flight, set off

from Saudi Arabia, stopped off in Alexandria on its way to Cairo.

According to our Cairo correspondent, the hijacker

initially asked the pilot to redirect to Turkey. It was then that

the pilot said there wasn't enough fuel for that so the plane

eventually landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus.

We can talk now the BBC producer Rebecca Bailey at the airport and I

think you have been talking to other passengers there. What have they

been saying to you? Yes, that's right. It's a bit chaotic here

because obviously any flight landing is being diverted so I spoke to one

person waiting for his elderly mother to come from Jordan. He's

waiting to find out whether she's been diverted to Paphos, the other

airport on the island, and in that case if she is, the passengers also

bussed over. At the moment, there doesn't seem to be very much

information given out, other than what is on the arrival and departure

boards. That is what people are going by. Are people aware of what's

happened this morning? Yes. I think they are. News spread quickly over

social media here. I was in the hairdressers when it happened and

everyone got out their phones and were goings "oh my goodness this is

happening" and were sharing information. There were a lot of

unsubstantiated rumours flying around as there always are in these

cases but people are aware of what is happening mainly through social

media and social media here. Thank you very much.

David, the security expert, is still with us. He's said it's a terrible

breach of security and the most significant event effectively you

were saying since 9/11 in terms of a breach of that security and the

pilot should have made the call that the hijacker was perhaps not as

dangerous as he said he was? Yes. Literally, if we are going back into

what I just referred to as the security Stone Age, we have no faith

in our systems whatever. We set up a system since 9/11 which has

prevented hijacks. This is the first since 9/11. Anyone who wants to go

somewhere which is not the destination planned, you have to

send a message to the captain to say, I have a suicide belt, take me

where I want to go. We have gone back to those days. We have to have

a person that is, in this case Egypt, the last place it took off

from was Alexandria, we have to have a system where the captain has

complete confidence in the security people that somebody with a suicide

belt could not possibly have got on board. So when the demand is made,

the captain just says "no", the person who is claiming to have the

vest is taken over by the crew with the help of the passengers. This is

all post-9/11 stuff. That is what the drill is now. So in this

particular case, that captain should simply have continued to his

destination and landed safely and the person would have been

demonstrated to have been a fraud, which is what we are now finding

out. But I can't emphasise enough, if we have lost faith in the system,

anybody who wants to go where he wants to go when he gets airborne

just has to say, "I've got a bomb" and the captain says "fine, I'll

take you where you want to go". I mean we have got back into the

security Stone Age. Thank you very much for talking to

us. Good morning, let's bring you

up-to-date. The airline Egyptair says one of its flights has been

hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus. The hijacker, who said he

had a suicide vest, either on him or with him, is reported to have asked

for asylum. The news agency Reuters is reporting the hijacker is a

Professor of Veterinary medicine from Alexandria university. There

are unconfirmed reports that all passengers and crew on board have

now been released and that the hijacker is the only person who

remains on board the plane. Five members of the crew have been

seen coming off the aircraft. Earlier, Egyptair said four foreign

passengers and the crew members remained on board.

This unverified image is thought to be the man who hijacked the plane.

It's being reported that he may have personal motives and that he has

asked for a letter to be delivered to his estranged wife, thought to be

living in Cyprus. The Foreign Office has said it's

working to establish if there are any British people amongst the

passengers. The flight originally took off from

Saudi Arabia and stopped off in Alexandria, which is when it was

taken over, as it tried to continue its journey to Cairo. It's on the

ground at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. We also understand that flights to

Larnaca are being diverted to Paphos. Let's talk to our

correspondent again in Cairo, Ranyah Sabry. One news agency reporting

that the hijacker's ex-wife is being brought to the airport. I don't know

if you can confirm that? It's not possible to confirm that, especially

from the Egyptian side. We are waiting for a press conference from

the Aviation Authority to speak about this incident, but according

to statements from Cyprus, the presidential statements there, the

accident was not motivated by terrorism. Also, we have been

receiving reports that all the passengers and the crew members have

been off the plane and the hijacker remains on his own on the plane.

Just like we have seen from the image, the man seems to be in his

late 40s, early 50s, and has asked for a letter to be delivered to his

ex-wife who reportedly lives in Cyprus. Egyptair has confirmed that

the flight carried a number of foreign passengers from different

countries, but it was not known the four who remained until the end

which nationality were they. Do stay with us for a moment if you

can. I'm told we can talk to - actually let me bring you this from

the Cyprus President who has commented on the hijacking. He said;

it's all to do with a woman. Addressing reporters while visiting

the European Parliament. The Cypriot leader has ruled out terrorism being

behind the hijacking confirming that it's been instigated by a lovesick

man bent on reunited with his former Cypriot wife. According to the

Cypriot President, it's all to do with a woman, we are doing

everything to release the hostages. Ranyah, we've already made it clear

that all of the passengers now and the crew are released? Yes, that is

what we have at the moment. After about five very tense hours for the

passengers and for people worldwide watching this incident, it turns out

to be down to this one woman and this lovesick man who is attempting

to chase her. Obviously wanting to make himself known, seen and heard.

He's managed to do that as we all currently breathe a sigh of relief

waiting for more details to come through. But for now it's not a

terrorist motivated attack or incident and all the passengers and

crew are safe. We are waiting from the statement from the Ministry of

Aviation in Egypt, expected at the top of the hour.

We'll obviously bring that to our audience live as soon as that

begins. If it's true that it is, according to the Cyprus President, a

lovesick man attempting to get the attention of his estranged partner,

then it's an absolutely extraordinary and rather Deaning

rows way of going about it? -- dangerous way of going about it? I

would agree and I believe this man will be subject to a number of

checks for mental health once this is all over because the amount of

tension, the amount of danger he put everybody through is quite

remarkable, just to reach his goal or his motive and be reunited with

his wife in Cyprus. We still don't know if the wife is on her way to

the airport, as some Cypriot media sources have been claiming, that

remains to be seen. It turned out to be a difficult morning. Thank you

very much. As Ranyah said, we are expecting a

news conference by Egyptian officials in possibly the next five

to ten minutes or so. As soon as that begins, we'll bring that to you

live. Good morning, you are watching a BBC

News Special with the latest on the hijacked Egyptian plane forced to

land at Cyprus. Davon, you were a passenger waiting to board a plane,

tell us what you saw? I saw the passengers being led off, which is

great news. I just heard that the passengers and crew are all released

which is great news. So the atmosphere now at the airport

presumably pretty calm? There is a sense of relief. Everybody is glad

the crew and passengers are safe. Everybody is glad it was a lovesick

man and not a terrorist, could have been worse.

Thank you very much. Let's talk now to Nicholas Zanetos, a journalist in

Cyprus who is at the airport. Thank you for talking to us. Are you

hearing the hijacker's estranged partner is on her way to the

airport? The information that I'm getting right now is that the

passenger is at the airport and police sources told me five minutes

ago that this man has four children with this woman and this is getting

more and more interesting. We also had some statement from the

President whoa said, answering a question, that everything happened

is for a woman. So this is pretty much the story right now. I'm 800

metres from the airplane. We seen half an hour ago three persons

coming out of the aircraft and they were carried by a bus to the old

part of the airport. We are in the hold and we expect a move by the

police as soon as possible. I don't know if you heard that the

passenger that was speaking to me before we came to you, an enormous

sense of relief at the airport? That is right. There is some relief from

the point of view that we are not dealing with a terrorist attack.

That is pretty much the view right now.

OK. What is the reaction if it's true that this is a lovesick man

wanting to attract the attention of his ex-partner. What is the reaction

to that? People are saying this is very strange. I mean, the amount of

attention that he chose to raise about this incident, it's pretty

much shocking the fact that he hijacked a plane to grab the

attention of his partner. This is very strange, yes. There will still

be questions to be asked of security systems in place, particularly at

Egyptair lines and Alexandria Airport? Yes, exactly, we are

awaiting those answers as well. We are expecting a news conference are

we? Yes, we are expecting a news conference in half an hour

approximately. The press officer is making some statements right now

actually. It will be interesting to hear what she says.

Thank you very much. Hello, it's Tuesday,

it's ten o'clock. I'm Victoria Derbyshire,

welcome to the programme if you've Breaking news this morning -

an Egyptair passenger plane has All the passengers on Egyptian plane

that was hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus have been released. The

hijacker is believed to have said he was carrying explosives and is

reported to have asked for asylum and demanded to see his Cypriot

ex-wife. Up to eight British people were thought to have been on board.

We will bring you the latest. This unverified image is thought to

be the man who hijacked the plane. Most of the passengers on board the

hijacked Egyptair plane which was forced to land in Cyprus have been

freed. It is reported that the hijacker said he had a suicide vest

on all with him and had been asking for asylum. The Reuters newsagency

says the hijacker is a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria

University. The UK is investigating reports that

three British people were on board a handful of people -- were among a

handful of people left on board the plane, although we have now been

told there is nobody at all left on board except for the hijacker

himself. This unverified image is thought to

be the hijacker. It has been reported that he may have personal

image and has asked for a letter to be delivered to his extremist right,

who is thought to be living in Cyprus. -- delivered to his exchange

life. -- estranged wife. The aeroplane is now on the ground

at Larnaca airport, having been taken over at Alexandria. We

understand that flights from Larnaca are being diverted to Paphos.

Our correspondent in Cairo is Ranyah Sabry.

She has been keeping us up to date with the latest. What do we know?

The passengers and crew on board the plane are safe in the airport, they

have left the airport. The hijacker remains on the plane on his own. A

huge sigh of relief at the airport in Larnaca. We know that the

hijacker wanted to meet his ex-wife who resides in Cyprus, we believe

she is on our way to the airport or has maybe arrived by now. Any

terrorist motivations have been ruled out, it is not a terrorist

attack and not motivated by any ideological or political reasons, it

is as simple as a love stricken man searching for the love of his life,

who resides in Cyprus and who is on her way to the airport to meet her

ex-husband. What sort of questions will be asked of Egyptian security

as a result of what has happened this morning? First it has to be

established whether this man got on the plane in Saudi Arabia or in

Egypt's Alexandria airport. It is not clear. It is not clear either

whether he was in hold of any weapon or arms. The pilot reported that the

passenger informed him he was in hold of an explosive belt, whether

it was on him or in his luggage was not clear. Nobody confirmed that the

man was in hold of a weapon, he could have been bluffing all along,

he could have been claiming to be in hold of arms and weapons, the

weapons could be as light as a knife or as huge as a suicide or explosive

belt. It is not clear, that is up to investigations both, I believe, by

the Egyptian authorities, the Saudi authorities and aviation security

experts who would be pretty interested in this incident,

especially that hijacking planes is something that has not happened

worldwide for quite some time, it is a revival of something that has been

dormant for decades and needs to be looked into thoroughly before

decisions are made or judgments are made.

I will just pause for a moment to show the audience the latest

pictures that we have, which apparently show members of the crew

getting off the hijacked plane. Any second now, hopefully. Members of

the crew recently getting off the plane, along with most of the rest

of the passengers. We will just have a look at that now. That looks like

a crew member on their phone as they emerge from the aircraft and move

down the steps. For those on board, Ranyah, this Mr

been absolutely terrifying? It was supposed to be very terrifying. --

this must have been absolutely terrifying? But for the images that

we have seen the passengers getting onto the bus, they seemed calm and

composed, nobody was hurrying, I am sure they were relieved but it did

seem like they were ex-the rinsing stressful times on the plane. --

experiencing stressful times. And at Housesteads saw them off, she made

sure everyone left, she did not show signs of tension, try to join them

or run with them, she calmly looked at them, made sure everybody was

safe and on the bus and then re-entered the plane, which gives an

impression that she was quite composed and that matters inside the

plane were not as tense as one would tend to believe in such a situation

they hijacked a plane. Just to let you know, Ranyah, just coming into

us, the reported hijacker of the plane denies involvement. In remarks

to BBC Arabic, the veterinary professor at the University of

Alexandria said he was a passenger on the plane and was evacuated from

it, along with other passengers at Larnaca airport in Cyprus. So this

man, Ibrahimovic, -- this man, Ibrahim, said he was a passenger on

the plane, he did not attempt to hijack it and was released from the

plane along with various other passengers. The name was circulated

in Egyptian media as the person who was the hijacker. We said earlier

that he was a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria

University. This is not correct, this man was just a passenger. The

hijacker was supposedly identified by his seat on the plane, she is

believed to have been 38K, but it got link to this gentleman, who says

he was just a passenger. We are back to square one, we do not know who

the hijacker is, except that he is Egyptian and his wife lives in

Cyprus, he has sent her a letter already and asked to meet her. These

pieces of information are the ones that we know and are sure of, but

the exact name and age remains to be seen. It is not the professor of

veterinary medicine at Alexandria University, for the time being.

Let's hear from the Cypriot president, who has ruled out

terrorism being behind the hijacking. We can hear from him now.

It seems that at least 49 of the passengers have been released. This

is (INAUDIBLE) , I have to say. We are doing our

utmost in order for everyone to be released safe and to give an end to

this unprecedented... In any case, it is not something which has to do

with terrorism. Do you know what I mean?

LAUGHTER REPORTER: Can you confirm a debit

thing was about a woman? Though Blau always there is a woman!

LAUGHTER STUDIO: A couple of moments of

levity, always there is a woman involved. We are awaiting a news

conference in Cairo. You can see them getting ready. The Egyptian

civil aviation ministry is about to hold a news conference into the

Egyptair plane that was hijacked, so many more details to come, clearly,

so many questions that the journalists will want to ask the

officials. As soon as it begins we will bring it to you live.

Earlier I spoke to Matthew Finn, and aviation security expert. It is a

very stressful situation. I come back to the crew, who will hopefully

remember their training, they are well trained and are an asset in

situations like this. They will be keeping communication lines going,

hopefully providing a buffer between the hijacker and the passengers,

continuing in their duty of care to look after the safety and well-being

of passengers so there is no direct interaction between the hijacker and

the passengers themselves. Given the discussion this morning about

nationality, it was possibly the crew that had to get the travel

document to reveal who was from which country around the world,

providing basic information and water, all of these things are

really important to keep the situation under control and keep

communication flowing around the aircraft and with people on the

ground. Clearly negotiations must have been going on earlier in order

to release those passengers who are Egyptian? About absolutely even to

get the stairs to the aircraft. It would have required a dialogue to be

established. It is good news. As soon as there is communication there

is the opportunity to affect an outcome and start mediation and

negotiation. It is all very positive, as is the release of the

majority of passengers, and it was reassuring to see the calm manner in

which they were released from the aircraft. Obviously our attention

now remains on those passengers and crew who remain in the aircraft and

understanding that the slides of communication remain open, and a

dialogue can continue to be established to effect a safe outcome

for everybody involved. Aviation security expert Matthew Finn.

Let's talk again to the British journalist for the Times newspaper

based in Cyprus, Michael Theodulou. What is the question you would need

answering this stage? One to confirm that all the passengers had been

released, or most of them were, and that his motives are personal, as is

reported by the Cypriot media, and the hijacking is not part -- the

hijacker is not part of a terrorist group with a terrorist profile. Did

he have explosives or not? There was an initial report that he had a

suicide belt, but now the reports are that he does not have

explosives. We spoke to another aviation expert earlier who said

that a pilot should have confidence in his security systems on the

ground to know immediately whether a passenger saying they have a suicide

vest is telling the truth or not. Yes, indeed, but at the same time I

assume that if a pilot is facing a threat by a man who seems to have

something, he might have been pretending to have his finger on a

detonation button, he would not take any risks. I wonder if someone had,

in fact, got some explosive on. All pilots are trained in this. The

incident would have raised issues about security at airports following

the other incident last year. Investigations into what has

happened are clearly at a very, very early stage, and we know little

about the hijacker. We certainly don't have very much confirmed

information about this particular hijacker. But people will have to

look into his background, potentially the history of his

mental health, why he thought this was the right thing to do to try to

draw the attention of his strange partner? It is a very bizarre

incident. I think it will be sorted fairly quickly, he is not placing

any demands that would be hard for any officials here or wrought to try

to meet. He apparently just wants to see his ex-wife, who is reportedly a

Cypriot here. He dropped off a letter in Arabic on the tarmac

apparently addressed to her. Apparently she is being taken to the

airport in case he wants to see her. Maybe he is just a man in a very bad

personal situation who has made a very bad, reckless decision. That

will become clear in time once more and needed things have been sorted

out, like checking there are no explosives on board and everybody is

safe. Bearing in mind that checking for explosives is yet to happen,

hearing the president of Cyprus and the president of the European

Parliament both joking, as we did a few moments ago, about the hijacked,

Parliament both joking, as we did a suggesting it was all about a woman

and was not a serious threat, I wonder if people will think it's

inappropriate this stage? I have not seen the remarks yet, but a report

said he said it was not really a terrorist incident. Clearly it would

have terrorised everybody on board the plane, it is a serials incident,

but if the president had information that he was not making terror

related demands, it would have been a relief to the Cypriot authorities.

So apparently the situation will be diffused soon.

I'm reading comments from a man called Ibrahim who was named

incorrectly earlier as the hijacker, named by some Egyptian media outlets

as a Professor of Veterinary medicine from Alexandria university.

He's now said, I was not the hijacker, I was simply a personing

on that plane and was released alongside other passengers and had

absolutely nothing to do with hijacking the plane. He's also

described what happened on the plane, and this has been translated

for us. We did not know what was going on, we got on board the plane

and were surprised the crew took all our passports which is unusual for a

domestic flight. After a while, we realised the altitude was getting

higher. Then we knew we were heading to Cyprus. At first, the crew told

us there was a problem with the plane and only later did we know it

was hijacked. Those are comments from one of the passengers on the

plane, Dr Ibrahim Samahar named by some media outlets as being the

hijacker. He says absolutely not. Clearly, there was confusion early

on, on that plane, when it was diverted? There was. The fact that

he was mistakenly named shows that we should take the reports with some

caution at this time. There have been very few official statements

from the Cypriots or the Egyptian authorities about this. In the

absence of that, and given the fact people have mobile phones now and

social media, a lot of reports circulate that could be incorrect.

The other thing the passengers didn't apparently realise, it seemed

the pilot and crew were doing a fairly good job of trying to keep

the passengers from panicking and knowing the possible peril that they

faced. Thank you very much. Earlier, we

spoke to a Cypriot correspondent at longer coo Airport. She explained

that the hijacker was thought to be the only personal left on board the

plane. The latest is that the hijacker, from what we understand,

is completely by himself on the plane. They let off the last five

passengers of crew from what we could see. He is on the plane right

now. What we know is that he is talking to the Civil Aviation

Authority and they are talking about his requests of whatever he's

asking, to the crisis centre, which Larnaca Airport -- at Larnaca

Airport. We are waiting to be briefed by the crisis centre,

hopefully soon. It's quite difficult to hear you, but did you say the

hijacker is the only person left on board or did I mishear you. Yes.

That is exactly what we have, that is the latest information that we

have. So the pilot and the rest of the crew are off the plane? Off the

plane, exactly. The passengers were taken to the new airport at the

arrivals. The airport is closed. All planes have been diverted to Paphos

Airport and there are basically no planes landing or departing here.

The situation is still fluid and the information that is coming through

is very slow. I don't know if you have heard this, but it's being

reported by one French news agency, that the ex-wife of this hijacker is

being brought to the airport because the hijacker has demanded to see

her? I have information but it's unconfirmed, that he was married to

someone from the Larnaca district and they have four children and that

he is making some demands. That is information that is also not

confirmed. We are expecting a news conference from Cairo where the

Civil Aviation Authority is expecting to hold a news conference.

We are not sure when but any time soon. As soon as it happens we'll

bring you that live. Much more detail after the Egyptair lane was

hijacked and forced to land in Cyprus -- Egypt airline plane was

hijacked and forced to land. Jonny Dymond is still with us. Give us the

background? This plane came from Saudi Arabia, stopped in Alexandria

then was many don't go to Cairo. The crew found out that one passenger

was carrying something that looked very much like a suicide belt or a

belt strapped with explosives. The passenger told the crew that he

wanted to change the route of the plane and at this point we enter the

world of speculation... I'm going to pause for a second because I think

the news conference is about to start.

There is some questions that I cannance and some information I can

give -- can answer and some information I can give you. We have

other information but I will not divulge it at the moment. We are

talking about the security situation and we cannot give information that

will represent danger because the time is not right what has happened

today quickly. This morning at 6. 50 local time the captain of the plane

MS181, which should have taken off from towards Cairo, at 6. 06, it did

in fact take off at 6. 30. It was an Airbus A 320. It was hijacked and we

were informed there was a passenger with a suicide belt who had asked

that the plane be diverted. It was decided it would land in

Cyprus. There are various passengers from various nationalities,

including an Egyptian who boarded the plane from Alexandria to Cairo

and others would go in further. At 7. 05, we have started to deal with

the situation in the form of managing the crisis through the

crisis centre present at this aviation centre. We can say the

following. At 7. 50, the plane landed at Larnaca Airport and then

various negotiations started with the high St James' Park. According

to our information and information is from a reliable source --

negotiations started with the hijacker. According to our

information, we don't know whether the suicide belt was virtual or real

but we were dealing with the situation as it represented a

danger. Ongoing negotiations with the hijacker and the situation at

the plane now. There are seven people still inside the plane, the

captain and his aid, one woman still with us, one security officer and

three passengers. I can't talk about the nationalities

at this stage. This is a security situation and please forgive me

because I will not give you the nationalities at this stage. There

is contradiction. The numbers I have in my possession, I will let you

know. I'm not sure about the suicide belt. We are dealing with the

situation as if it's a real one. On the other hand, I would like to add

that our call centre and through the crisis centre, we have contacted the

families of the passengers and the passengers inside Cyprus, the plane

will be leaving within an hour flying to Larnaca. We were not going

to wait until 1600, we'll send a plane to get our passengers as soon

as possible. It will depart at 12. 30 local time.

I cannot give you the nationalities. Three passengers still on board the

plane. Are you dealing with the situation alone or with the Cypriot

authorities? Again, there is nothing I can give you. I am dealing with

the situation has it is. The crew, captain and copilot and the security

officer must deal with this. Three passengers are still inside the

plane. There is more than one party dealing

with the conducting of the negotiations. We have been

reassuring people, we are dealing with people that are our brothers

and sons, we are eager that their security is our priority. But

dealing with these people, our colleagues are dealing with it and

that has been done at the appropriate level.

I will carry on this side. Up to now, I cannot say that there

are any demands from the hijackers. There are negotiations ongoing and

with the authorities on site so that we can determine what demands there

are. Please do not listen to rumours that

there are demands also. Up to now, we have not heard any real demands

that we can state and announce to you.

Yes. We have information but I'm not going to divulge it.

Nobody can tell for sure. Nobody can say how long the negotiations will

take. Our fundamental issue is our people on board. Our sons on board,

our passengers, their safety. We'll carry on negotiating to make sure

safety is paramount using all the means. Negotiations can take as long

as possible. Experts are dealing with the situation, that is their

job, please give them enough time and no conflicting statements so

that they can carry out their work as best as possible.

I haven't said that. I have no other information.

This is not the time to talk about this. Carry on, carry on. Carry on.

Is there any information about the hijacker?

TRANSLATION: This issue, you should understand, there are things we

cannot say. Running and chasing information should not affect our

instinct. Please leave others to carry out their job and their work

calmly, negotiating. We cannot broadcast information that might

influence the final result of the negotiation. Once we are sure about

the safety of the people, we will announce all the information

available. I will not give you names. Whoever mentions names should

shoulder the responsibility is. I would like to say that we are not

going to delve into names. I would like to keep saying what I

said, there will be surprises, but I will not pre-empt the situation.

What would benefit? Please, let us concentrate on the safety of the

people and leave time and space to our negotiators to deal with the

situation. Statements and throwing names here and there and an official

statements do not serve our work, which is under way. -- and

unofficial statements. Of course, there are challenges

everywhere, and it is normal. There are security measures. When

something like this happens, every security quarter would make sure

what has happened is and how their work is contacted. But that doesn't

mean that if I arrested one person who is suspicious, the story ends

there. TRANSLATION: Please, one at a time,

please, just one question at a time. This is not my decision. This is a

decision that would taken alongside those who are negotiating with the

hijacker. -- that would be taken. We will leave that to the security

authorities to deal with this situation.

I have the nationalities of the foreign travellers, but I will not

announce them here. Can you say it again? REPORTER: I

would like to ask about the security checks at Alexandria airport. How

was he armed? If you are talking about the security procedure at the

Alexandria airport, we don't know yet how he got the equipment he has,

and we don't know whether it is real or not. This will come as an outcome

of the investigation we are after. The reality is that we have a

hijacker on board a plane, we are not sure whether what he has is a

true threat to the aircraft, but we are dealing with it as a real

threat, because we cannot take any risks except dealing with it as a

serious situation. REPORTER: TRANSLATION: How did he

get access to the plane, knowing he could have had a Swiss belt, and

there has been an agreement signed with a security company to oversee

the security at the airport? TRANSLATION: Do you really think

this is the time to talk about other issues, complex issues? This is not

the time, please. Let us deal with a crisis like we are doing, but then

we will go into details at a later stage. We have other pressing

matters that we have to do. The number of passengers on board,

we do have the up to date information.

TRANSLATION: I said to you, I cannot mention the name of the hijacker, I

cannot name the nationalities of the passengers until we are 100% sure.

As long as we are not sure, we cannot say anything else. I didn't

say that, what I am saying is that I am not going to go into the names

until we have confirmed information about the name, and we will choose

the right time to announce the names. I would like to ask you to

look into the field, that we are in a crisis and dealing with a crisis

is different to dealing with matters in a normal time. Yes, go ahead,

Sir?. REPORTER: The Egyptian government

retained one company in December or January to look at airport security

in Egypt. To reassure, primarily, the Egyptian traveller, but also

foreign travellers and to arrest will stop I believe that this report

was released confidentially to you and to senior people in ejection

security a month or so ago. The British extended their travel

suspension to Sharm el-Sheikh, and now we have the civil aviation

incident. My question is this, can you reassure bursty Egyptian people

that civil aviation is hijacker free here? This guy did get on the plane.

And are you sure that, having rejected a Russian offer to look at

security on their planes, what can you tell us about the findings of

this report? Number one, I have not seen any

reports so far, they have not submitted their final report yet.

But Egyptian security and Egyptian airport security is being monitored

by different authorities. Our security teams were in very close

contact with these authorities addressing the observations and

findings they had. So far, we have been able to successfully rectify

this. However, you may ask this question, and I think it is a good

question, but let's address this after we finalise the incident and

make sure that our people are safe, and after we investigate how this

passenger was able to get whatever it with that he has on board. I

can't make any statements now, because we haven't completed the

security investigation. REPORTER: I appreciate that, could you give us

the accounts in Europe that you provided to (INAUDIBLE)

? Let me finish in Arabic, then I will do it in English. Can I do

that? TRANSLATION: I will not go into

details. The plane is in Cyprus. I would like to deal with the

situation as it is. Two more questions, because I need to leave.

I will announce this when we have the confirmed information and full

information. There was an (INAUDIBLE)

Broadcast by most news agencies and channels, what can you tell us about

it? TRANSLATION: What you have just said

confirms why I do not want to mention names until investigations

are completed. Please just allow me that.

TRANSLATION: Yes, this man has been subjected to this because there are

colleagues who get their information from unconfirmed sources. They have

broadcast him. Can I just finish, please?

I am here so I can provide you with the final information, which we can

use to deal with the situation as it is. I want the final information.

The names, we do not have any names at the moment.

If we can deny it, we would have done so, but let us compete our

investigation and the negotiations. We will issue a statement at the

right time about the names. REPORTER: TRANSLATION: Why did the

captain yield for that amount of the alleged hijacker? TRANSLATION: We

will look into this issue when we sit around with our cap on and we

get all the information from him. -- with our captain. Excuse me, I need

to leave. I am very sorry. Because we have other things to do. So we

will provide you... Everybody knows our website, Egyptian air, and there

will be preliminary statement that will inform you about the

development of the situation, thank you.

So that news conference from Egypt is my Chris Liddle aviation

minister, the most important thing to draw from it is that the

situation involving the hijacked plane is ongoing, there are seven

people, including three passengers, still on board, completely

contradicting earlier reports which said everyone had been released,

Jonny Diamond? It looked like all the passengers and some of the crew

had been released, but the minister was very clear, seven people on

board, three passengers, two... I think the captain, the co-pilot, a

stewardess and the security officer were the others identified. It is a

very confusing situation. It was confusing, for example, the minister

said that no demands have been made and yet we were very clearly under

the impression that the hijacker had demanded to see his ex-wife. The

Minister says that the hijacker had us to go to either Turkey or Cyprus,

if he is so keen on speaking to his ex-wife in Cyprus, why was he happy

to go to Turkey? We have colleagues from BBC Arabic interviewing

passengers as they came off the plane, they have spoken of the

situation that occurred as the hijacking taking place, and what

appears to have happened first of all is that the crew took all the

passports from those on the plane, then passengers noticed that the

plane was gaining altitude, which it should not have been doing for a

domestic flight, they were informed they were going to Cyprus for no

apparent reason and then they were informed that a hijacking had taken

place. What the Minister made clear was that they don't know if the

suicide vest or belt that the hijacker said he had is real or

virtual, as the minister put it, but they are dealing with it as though

it is real, because they had to? Absolutely. I thought we saw the

more serious side to this hijacking from the minister than we heard

perhaps from the Cypriot authorities or the debate raging on social media

about this. He is saying to some degree it does not matter if it is

real or not, we had to take it seriously, and it clearly is being

so. He is pushing back very firmly on questions about security in

Egypt, a matter of immense sensitivity giving the bombing of a

Russian jet in late 2015, a bombing Fed have originated from the

Egyptian airport of Sharm el-Sheikh. Lots of questions, but still people

on board, still passengers and crew on board, still a hijacker who may

or may not have explosives, and lots of unanswered questions.

A very serious situation clearly. The minister said he does not know

thing negotiations are going to take but what is absolutely the priority

is the safety and security of those still on board? Yes. Interestingly,

he also suggested there were more than just one party negotiating with

the hijacker. He suggested there were at least two parties now that

may be that the Cypriot authorities want to have a role and yet it's the

Egyptians taking the lead role. We still don't have an identification

for the hijacker. We previously thought he was perhaps a little

impossibly a Professor of Veterinary science from the university in

Cairo, that's now been discounted as something that happened in the

confusion of the first hour-and-a-half, that

misidentification. So we don't know who he is and we don't know for sure

what he wants, although there's an enormous amount of rumours about his

ex-wife and a letter being thrown down and her coming to the airport.

We have some stills of passengers getting off the plane and on to one

of the buses that was brought, obviously to take them away from the

aircraft. You can see a child there just being

carried on to the bus alongside other passengers. These are still

images which we have just received here at the BBC. People leaving the

plane. This happened much earlier now, at least a couple of hours or

so ago. Being escorted on to a bus which was waiting for them. You can

see children there as well. It all looks pretty calm, doesn't

it? Yes. And well it should do because of course whilst the been a

terrifying situation for them, in reality, this hijacking for these

passengers as they were released, really only lasted about an

hour-and-a-half, two hours, pretty much within minutes of landing they

were being released. It looked at that stage when we were talking

then, as if this was coming swiftly to a peaceful end. However, the

information from the Egyptian officials that there are still seven

people on board, three passengers, four members of crew and security,

along with the hijacker himself, means that this is still ongoing,

still potentially very risky indeed. Obviously those who came off the

plane will be immensely relieved. One's thoughts has to be with those

who're still there. Those are the live pictures of the stationary

plane, as Jonny says, with three passengers still on board. The

pilot, copilot, one security officer and one female stewardess and we

heard in that live news conference that negotiations are taking place

with more than one party with the hijacker. Let's talk to Sally Nabil

in Cairo. What are you hear thering? -- hearing there? The latest we have

is that Egypt will send a plane to Larnaca as soon as possible to try

to bring back the passengers that have been released. Negotiations are

under way to release the three passengers who're still inside the

plane in addition to four crew members. I'm at the Ministry of

Civil aviation where the minister held a press conference. He didn't

say what the nationalities of those still in the plane are, but he said,

we are doing our best. Apparently, the situation is not related to

terrorism, according to the President of Cyprus who said it's

apparently a personal issue, the hijacker we don't know who he is

yet, but he wanted to contact his ex-wife who lives in Cyprus. There

were initial reports suggesting that the hijacker was an Egyptian

American called Ibrahim Samahar, a professional. But the BBC BBC spoke

to him and he appeared to be one of the passengers and he's in Larnaca

Airport. We asked him how the situation was inside the aeroplane

and he said it was pretty normal, there was no violence, nothing that

aroused their concern or worry, but they just realised that the flight

took longer than normal, it usually takes around 30 minutes to go from

Alexandria to Cairo, but after some time, they realised they'd been

hijacked. We asked if he has seen the hijacker at all but he said he

didn't and now they are still in the airport waiting for an Egyptian

plane to bring them all back. Authorities say they are doing their

best to release those who're still trapped inside. Thank you, Sally

Nabil. Good morning, let's bring you

up-to-date with the latest: Egypt's civil aviation minister has said

contrary to previous media reports, that there are still seven people,

including three passengers on board that hijacked Egyptian plane that

was forced to divert to Cyprus. At a news conference in the last half

hour he said so far the hijacker has not made concrete demands. His

motives are not thought to be related to terrorism.

Flight MS181 took off from Alexandria en route to Cairo with at

least 55 passengers, including 26 foreigners and a seven-member crew.

The hijacker who claimed he had a suicide vest or belt, is reported to

have asked for the plane to be diverted towards either Turkey or

Cyprus. This unverified image is thought to

be the man who hijacked the plane. He's thought to be an Egyptian

national. Earlier, unconfirmed reports said that he might have

personal motives and that he's asked for a letter to be delivered to his

estranged wife thought to be living in Cyprus. Those reports are

unconfirmed. Here, the Foreign Office has said it's working to

establish if there are any British people amongst the passengers. The

plane is now on the ground at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. We also

understand that flights to Larnaca are being diverted to Paphos. The

Cypriot President earlier ruled out terrorism being behind the

hijacking. We can hear from him now. It seems 49 of the passengers have

been released. We are doing our utmost to make sure everyone is

released safe and to give an end to this unprecedented, in any case it's

not something which has to do with terrorism. You know what I mean.

REPORTER: Can you confirm that everything was about a woman? Always

there is a woman involved! So that was the Cypriot President

talking before Egypt's civil aviation minister gave his news

conference. That was a much more sombre affair. Let's talk again to

David, the Civil Aviation Authority representative. It's believed that

the situation is being dealt with as if the suicide belt is real? Yes, I

can understand why they are where they are. However, the tragedy about

this is that this takes us back to the frequent hijackings pre-9/11. We

haven't had another serious hijacking like this one since 9/11

because the measures that came in after 9/11 have been so successful

that nobody's succeeded in hijacking an aircraft. So what have we got

here? What we've got here is a complete breakdown of faith in the

security system. Since particularly in Egypt when the aircraft was blown

out of the sky by a bomb in Egypt when the aircraft was blown

departure from Sharm El-Sheikh in December last year, I think that

this proves there is no longer faith in the security system. The system

which should exist all over the world at the moment and has worked

since 9/11, the captain should have been able to respond to somebody who

claimed to have a security belt by saying, "no, I will not take you to

Larnaca because I know you could not possibly be wearing a suicide vest

because you could not have got through security with that on board.

" So really, what we have got to do is, I don't think there is an

explosive but if you want to go somewhere, just get on board a cheap

flight to a close destination, say you have got a suicide vest and your

captain will take you there. If we are going back to the security Stone

Age, that is where we are and this is where this is taking us.

OK, thank you. Clearly there'll be consequences for anybody who tries

that. Let's talk to Nicholas Zannetos, a journalist at Larnaca

Airport where the plane remains and where seven people remain on board,

including three passengers. I don't know if you caught the news

conference from the civil aviation minister from Egypt. He'd not talk

about the demands from the hijacker, he said "I cannot say if there are

any demands from the hijacker". What are you hearing there?

I can confirm that there are some demands. There was a letter from the

hijacker. It was delivered to the police and there were translators

here to translate what the letter was saying. So what we are hearing

is, this is about a woman. This is the case.

I'm going to leave it there, just because it's very difficult to hear

you. Apologies to our audience for the

qualities of that phone line. Our correspondent Jonny Dymond is here.

In terms of summing up, what do we know so far that is confirmed? We

know there are seven people still on board, with the hijacker effectively

holding them and the plane hostage. We understand that demands have been

made, it's mixed nationalities that were on the plane, we know that the

vast majority of the passengers have been released from the plane. We

believe, from the Egyptian Minister of The save aviation, that no

demands have been made, although this contradicts a lot of what we

have heard so far. The general picture is one of confusion and

conflicting reports throughout the morning. The way we saw this going

an hour ago, we thought this would be over, currently there is a

hostage situation at Larnaca Airport and the plane is being held by a man

or may or may not have explosives strapped to him. We simply don't

know. It's a potentially dangerous and clearly terrifying situation for

those on board. Many questions to be asked. David was raising one or two

of them about security, particularly at some of Egypt's airports and they

have had an issue with security in recent months? They had a terrible

issue in late 2015, a Russian plane was blown out of the skies in

November 2015 after it took off from Sharm El-Sheikh and very quickly a

massive security failure was identified. The Egyptian Minister of

Save aviation was pushing away questions about a potential security

risk out of Alexandria where the plane took off from before it was

divertded to Cyprus. There'll be all sorts of questions about whether

security has been increased enough and about whether it's safe to fly

from Egypt any more. Thank you very much. We will keep

you up-to-date with the latest on the hijacked plane across the day on

BBC News. An ongoing situation. Three passengers and four crew

members still on board that plane. It's BBC Newsroom live next with

Joanna Gosling. ..and that's what

she felt with the blues.