Authorities: Co-Pilot Took Control of Ethiopian Airlines Plane, Wanted Asylum

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Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 on the ground in Geneva, where a hijacker forced the Rome-bound plan to land.

An Ethiopian Airlines jet en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Rome was forced to land in Geneva on Monday after the co-pilot apparently took control of the aircraft in an attempt to seek asylum, authorities said.

Police arrested the co-pilot of Ethiopian Airlines flight 702 after the plane made an unscheduled landing at Geneva airport around 6 a.m. Central European Time, authorities said at a news conference.

The co-pilot was motivated to seek asylum because he felt threatened in his home country, according to the authorities.

The co-pilot, identified as an Ethiopian born in 1983, fled the aircraft through a cockpit window, the authorities said. No one was injured during the event.

After a temporary closure, the airport reopened for departures at 8 a.m. local time, with arrivals starting at about 8:45 a.m., according to a notice on the airport's website.