Egyptian Plane Hijacked By Love Sick “Idiot” Demanding To See Ex-Wife In Cyprus

The 81 passengers aboard EgyptAir flight MS181 got quite a scare on Tuesday when the Airbus 320 en route from Alexandria to Cairo was hijacked by a man who claimed to be wearing an explosive belt. Here’s the tweet that hit earlier this morning:

Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked. we’ll publish an official statement now. #Egyptair

— EGYPTAIR (@EGYPTAIR) March 29, 2016

Given recent events, it was only logical to suspect that we might soon be talking about #Egyptair as the latest in a string of tragic terror attacks perpetrated by ISIS militants. Indeed it was just five months ago that Islamic State’s Egyptian affiliate brought down a Russian passenger jet over Sinai killing more than 200 people.

Fortunately, the hijacker onboard MS181 turned out to be nothing more than a disgruntled man wanting to see his ex-wife. In Cyprus.

@SkyHindHassan and when Cypriot Pres was asked whether ‘a woman was involved’ he *reportedly* replied: “There is always a woman involved.”

— Zein Ja’far (@skyzein) March 29, 2016

I saw it. This definitely happened. #EgyptAir https://t.co/FtApH3KWa2

— Hind (@SkyHindHassan) March 29, 2016

The man has been identified as one Seif El Din Mistafa. Initially, the media fingered the wrong guy, blaming Ibrahim Samaha, a professor of veterinary medicine at Alexandria University.

At first, media identified the wrong Ibrahim Samaha and then realized that the hijacker’s name is not Ibrahim Samaha either. Priceless.

— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) March 29, 2016

Mistafa was sitting in seat K38 and apparently, he threatened the pilot (Omar Al-Gammal) with an explosives belt. Egyptian authorities were immediately skeptical.

“I doubt that he had explosives because security has been heightened across all Egyptian airports. But we will be able to confirm later,” Aviation Ministry spokesman Ehab Raslan said.

Still, the pilot followed the man’s demands and landed at Larnaca airport in Cyprus where all passangers save the crew and a handful of foreigners were released. “He’s not a terrorist, he’s an idiot,” The Egyptian foreign ministry said, in a statement. “Terrorists are crazy but they aren’t stupid. This guy is.”

Apparently, the ex-wife is being brought to the airport for negotiations. Meanwhile, the man has now decided that in addition to seeing his ex and securing asylum for himself in Cyprus, he also wants 63 women imprisoned in Egypt freed.

#Cyprus state TV now says #EgyptAir ? #MS181 hijacker wants also release of a number of political prisoners in #Egypt.
Plot thickens.

— Yannis Koutsomitis (@YanniKouts) March 29, 2016

Pending those demands, the pilot, co-pilot, and 3 passengers are still being held on the plane, Cypriot media reports.

?? ??????? ?? ?????? ?????????????? ??? ???????.?? ?????? ????.https://t.co/ajuWuH2vbn #EgyptAirhijack_Cyprus http://pic.twitter.com/0bb9wUfYUR

— ant1iwo (@ANT1iwo) March 29, 2016

Photos from #Larnaca RT @ANT1iwo: ?? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????????????https://t.co/eP3PimxnEg #EgyptAir #Cyprus http://pic.twitter.com/U5A9WPpN6h

— Janine Louloudi (@janinel83) March 29, 2016