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EgyptAir Flight Hijacked to Cyprus; Details Still Lacking on Hijacking. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired March 29, 2016 - 03:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:00:00] ERROL BARNETT, CNN NEWSROOM SHOW HOST: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and those of you watching from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. We have breaking news for you this hour.

A hijacked EgyptAir flight has landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. Flight MS181 was en route from Alexandria to Cairo, this is in Egypt, with 81 people on board before it was diverted north.

Reports say the pilot was threatened by a single hijacker, strapped with a suicide belt. Who that person is and the current status of passengers is still unclear.

All of this breaking within the past hour.

Let's bring in Ian Lee who joins us on the phone from Cairo for more. Ian, you have been to the Alexandria Airport. Where is this flight originated? You've mentioned its intense security, how could or would someone be able to get through it with an explosive belt? What do you know?

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This airport, when I traveled through it last, it had three layers of security, you can say. You go in the first thing they do is they scan your bags. You go through metal detector. Then you, that's even before you check in. You check in the bags so then taken away and scanned again. And there are two other metal detectors that a passenger goes through.

So, the question is going to be how was someone able to take -- we're hearing a suicide vest, a bomb strapped to this person onboard this plane. How was security unable to see that, especially when your bag, your carry-on bag, especially, goes through two screening processes before even getting to the gate.

So, these are questions that are going to need to be answered. The real question, too, is how is the quality of the screeners? This has been a subject that's been brought up a lot of times, since the Metrojet plane crashed leaving Sharm el-Sheikh Airport. ISIS claimed responsibility for that saying they planted a bomb on it.

The question is, do the people who are looking at the bags really know what they're looking for? And right now, we do have the situation where that EgyptAir plane, that an A320 with 81 people roughly onboard, was hijacked leaving Alexandria. It was diverted to Larnaca. The pilot was the one who called it in.

Not many details right now. But this comes at a time when Egypt was insisting to the outside world, that it was safe to visit. That its airports were secure. This has been a criticism of Egypt's president. And this incident is just going to add to that criticism.

BARNETT: And the Egyptian government, likely scrambling right now to make sense of all of this, as we are, Ian.

I just want to show our viewers, in the interest of showing the immediacy of all of this, just a recent tweet sent out by EgyptAir. This tweet was sent about 23 minutes ago and you see it there on your screens. It reads and confirms "Our flight MS181 is officially hijacked. We'll publish an official statement now, hash tag EgyptAir."

And we're all standing by for updated information. Ian, you mentioned that Egypt is dealing with its own terrorist threats. The president acknowledging the Russian jetliner was taken down via a terrorist act not too long ago. Were there any threats of an act like this to come by any groups in Egypt?

LEE: Well, there's always a threat that the airports would be targeted. But the Egyptian government is fairly quiet about any sort of threats that it may face.

[03:05:07] So, when incidents like this happen, they come as a surprise to many people. This tweet that you just read, is something else that is new. Egyptian officials typically have been fairly quiet when it came to these sorts of situations. They don't give out much information right away.

But so seeing EgyptAir tweet this information out, is showing a bit more transparency than we've seen in the past when it came to these sorts of situations. But we don't know the motivation behind this? It could have been ISIS carrying out very much could have been ISIS- related. Or it could be another motivation behind this.

This will be details we'll get later in the day, hopefully. But the security situation in Egypt very serious. You do have ISIS operating in the northern part of Sinai. There has been a large military operation against them. Hundreds of people have been killed both military police, as well as civilians in this battle.

It has draw -- it has dragged out longer than many Egyptians would like. Since the president came into power saying that he was going to secure the country. A lot of people asking now questioning if he's able to do that.

BARNETT: Ian Lee is on the phone with us from Cairo as we continue to get more information on this breaking story. If you're just joining us with, we have confirmed that an EgyptAir flight with 81 people onboard has been hijacked from while it was en route from Alexandria to Cairo. It's currently at that location you see on your scree the Larnaca Airport, in Cyprus.

The pilot has been in communication and he's confirmed that one passenger onboard threatened to detonate an explosives belt. And that was what led the flight to be diverted. As far as we know, there's been no evidence of that yet. But local police there in Larnaca do confirm that this aircraft, MS181, has been hijacked and is there at the airport.

Ian, I want to get back to you because Egypt is dealing with its own fight against terrorism particularly in the wake of that Russian jetliner that was down. But what about on the wake of what we've seen take place in Brussels where an airport and a metro station were targeted? Had Egypt changed its security posturing at all after that attack? And if not, does it mean that the country is as stepped up as it can be?

LEE: Well, there hasn't been any noticeable changes in security since the attack in Brussels. There's always been a very heavy security presence here in Cairo and in Egypt. You have checkpoints everywhere. Especially late at night. You have checkpoints with men with AK-47s.

There are police everywhere. So, there was -- there wasn't any real visible increase in security since the Brussels attack. But the question is going to be, moving forward, is how Egypt -- how the Egyptian officials -- how security -- how the intelligence, really wasn't able to detect this.

Egypt has fairly good intelligence service, especially domestic intelligence. This is going to be a blow for them, that they were not able to detect this sort of threat.

And again, Presidency Sisi came to power promising security. And we do see it since he took office on the street. But the question is, is this just the veneer of security or is it actual security?

BARNETT: It is certainly an unnerving development. Ian Lee on the phone with us from Cairo. Ian, we'll let you gather more information from your sources here, as we continue to get more information.

We actually now want to bring in Jeffrey Thomas. He is the editor-in- chief of Airlineratings.com. And he joins us via web cam from Perth, Australia. It is a very disturbing development. But what do you make of this Airbus 320 being hijacked, we understand and currently sitting on the tarmac there in Cyprus?

JEFFREY THOMAS, AIRLINERATINGS.COM EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Look, Errol, it raises several very disturbing questions. First of all, how did if this bomb, this explosive built this hijacker has, if it is real, I mean, it may well be that it is not real. But if it is real, how on earth did he get it onboard.

Now, as the previous commentator has just been describing that the levels of security at Egypt's airport. But the real question mark about Egypt's old airport after the Metrojet crash and explosion is what about an inside job?

[03:10:07] And it's fairly well understood that Metrojet was an inside job and this may well be the same thing. That this explosives belt was smuggled onboard this airport ahead of its departure. And this is something that raises serious questions about the security -- the screening of the employees at Egypt's airport and other airports, for that matter.

BARNETT: Now the aviation ministry is telling us that the pilot has reported in, we're showing our viewers, the first image we're getting of the EgyptAir flight as it sits on the runway at Larnaca Airport.

But, Jeffrey, this passenger, the pilot reports that the passenger claimed to have a suicide belt. We don't have any proof. No evidence. And you can understand, I mean, I would understand the pilot being cautious. But what is the protocol? What are pilots supposed to do when a threat like this is made?

THOMAS: Well, let's a look a very, very good question. And we install this security, this high impact explosives resilient doors on all aircraft after the terrible tragedies of 9/11. And the whole protocol was that pilots would never open those doors.

Now if a hijacker, in this particular case, on a suicide mission, he would have to believe, says I'm going to blow this airplane up, or divert, and open the door, well, the pilot says, well, OK, we know what suicide missions area all about these days, they don't really care.

And, you know, my plane will be blown up, regardless. I take my chances with the hijack scenario and go to Larnaca. I think I take the latter, as this pilot has done. And I think most pilots would do exactly the same.

You want to try and maximize every possibility that you could save your passengers and your crew. Not to mention yourself in these -- in these sorts of scenarios. So, this opens a whole new disturbing development when it comes to hijackings.

And viewers may remember that back in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, there were hijackings all the time. And it was a very difficult problem for the aviation industry.

BARNETT: Well, on that point, Jeffrey, it's more rare these days. And even in Egypt, it's most recent experience with terrorism and aircraft as we've discussed is that a bomb was smuggled possibly onboard. And that led to the downing of an aircraft.

We see so often terrorist attacks which incorporate suicide bombers. Individuals willing to kill themselves for a cause. Again, all of this information just coming into us. The pilot saying he diverted the flight because the person claimed to have a suicide belt and he's being cautious.

But if this all -- is all true and accurate, we would assume that there are some kind of aims to diverting a flight like this. Ian Lee telling us it's likely local Egyptians on this plane, rather than international travelers. What would that suggest to you?

THOMAS: Well, look, it's very difficult to actually analyze this sort of incident. And let's hope it just stays as an incident. BARNETT: Yes.

THOMAS: Because it's very difficult to get into the minds now of the suicide bombers. The suicide bombers add a totally new dimension to security, whether it's an airport, and we saw it in Brussels, or Istanbul or other places where they detonated these explosives and killed themselves.

It's extremely difficult to stop them. It's extremely difficult to understand what the logic of what they're trying to achieve. None of it makes any sense to us. And of course the security agencies, it's an almost impossible situation.

And as I explained, a pilot faced with the prospect of I'm going to blow your plane up or divert to Larnaca, I would divert to Larnaca, like this gentleman has done, this captain has done. This is a very, very difficult complex and very hard situation to actually fathom.

BARNETT: Now we are just getting all of the information to us. Jeffrey, fair point that you make. But as far as Ian Lee has been telling us, that President el-Sisi made security. One of his platforms particularly in the wake of other terrorist attacks.

Is the aviation industry itself convinced that Egyptian airports and their flights are safe?

THOMAS: Not at all. I think that Egypt would be on well down the list as far as confidence in the security system. It's a country in turmoil. I know that the politicians come to power on various mandates.

[03:15:07] I think It's more rhetoric than substance. And quite frankly, personally I wouldn't travel in Egypt at all. I don't have any faith in their security systems whatsoever.

BARNETT: Jeffrey Thomas from Airlineratings.com joining us from Perth, Australia. We appreciate your opinions there.

For our viewers just joining us we're covering this breaking news story. An EgyptAir flight has been hijacked. The pilot reporting that one passenger claims to have a suicide belt. So, this flight which was originally on a domestic route within Egypt, was diverted from Alexandria north across the Mediterranean to Cyprus.

The aircraft, you see it on the left of your screen is sitting on the Larnaca runway. We're trying to get confirmation on all of these details. Stay with CNN. We'll have more information for you after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi. I'm Don Riddell with CNN World Sport headlines.

World number one Serena Williams is packing her bags after losing her fourth round match to Svetlana Kuznetsova at the Miami Open. Williams had to fight her way through a first set tie break. But after that, her game fell apart. She hasn't been the same since her shocked semifinal defeat at the U.S. Open last year. She hasn't won a title since the Cincinnati Open in August. And she looked particularly out of sorts here, making 55 unforced errors.

A chance decision to pull out of the qualifying of Africa Cup of Nations will have a major impact on Egypt or Nigeria. The two teams will play against each other on Tuesday. The chance withdraw means that all results against them have been nullified.

Bot Egypt and Nigeria had beaten Chad. So, both lose points. Only the top team automatically qualifies. The second place team would have expected to go through as one of the best runners up. But that now won't be possible here.

There is a host of high-profile friendlies taking place on Tuesday, including England against the Netherlands. While the Dutch lost 3 to 2 to France. Last week England came from behind to beat Germany by the same score on Saturday.

James Milner will have the honor of captaining his country for the first time. It's the first time that Liverpool player has led out his country. The match is being held at the national stadium, Wembley, in London.

That's a quick look at your sports headlines. I'm Don Riddell.

BARNETT: Continuing with our breaking news here at CNN.

[03:19:59] You are looking at live pictures, I understand, as they're being broadcast to us, from Cyprus, where a hijacked EgyptAir flight number MS181, has landed. Currently, it is at the Larnaca Airport there.

The plane is an Airbus 320. It was on the route from Alexandria to Cairo. And has 81 passengers onboard. Although state media is reporting that some 30 to 40 passengers have been released.

So, we're still trying to get confirmation of that. All of this coming into CNN by the minute. Egypt's civil aviation ministry, meantime, says the pilot was forced to diverse the plane by a single hijacker with a suicide belt.

Cyprus media is reporting that some passengers though have been freed. Again, ranging 30 to 40, the precise number not clear yet.

We want to bring in Ian Lee, who joins us now live from Cairo as we cover all of this. Ian, it's still a breaking story. We don't know who the hijacker may be. But bring us up to date on any new information you've been able to gather.

LEE: Well, Errol, we're seeing right now on EgyptAir's official Twitter account, saying that negotiations are under way, with the hijacker that resulted in all the Egyptian passengers being released except for the cabin crew and foreigners. Now unsure how many foreigners that is at this moment that are on that

plane. But what EgyptAir is tweeting right now is that all of the Egyptian passengers have been able to make it off safely. That these negotiations are currently taking place.

And as we've been talking about over the past hour, we really don't know this hijacker claims to have a bomb onboard this plane. We do not know if that is a real bomb or claiming to have a bomb. Although the situation is being taken very seriously. We do not know how the person was able to bring on this bomb onboard this plane.

If you look back at the Metrojet bombing that took place here in Egypt last October, it appears to have been an inside job. So, that's going to be something that Egyptian officials are going to be looking at, are who are the people working at the airport? And checking, if any of them could have had any connection to this.

All still very much just new information coming to us at this moment. But Egyptian officials saying that, again, the pilot diverted this plane to Larnaca. It was able to land. When we have seen ISIS operate in the past they tend to go on suicide missions.

So, I think it's still early to say what the motivations behind this are. Was this an ISIS attack? Definitely not the M.O. of ISIS that we've seen in the past. But still, the questions that we're going to be looking into.

BARNETT: And, Ian, we don't know exactly who the hijacker may be affiliated with, if anyone. This is all such a recent breaking story. But an important development there that you mention that the Egyptian passengers have released from the plane.

However, the EgyptAir staff and we understand some five foreigners may still be onboard, as you mentioned there, the hostage taker negotiates with officials.

Let's just rewind to where this flight originated in Alexandria. How could someone get through that airport, with its security, in a climate in Egypt like this, with an explosive belt? Wow you'd have to have help from the inside. How could that happen?

LEE: It definitely points to that being the major theory right now, Errol. I'm travelling to that airport, there are levels of security. For me, when I went through there, my bags were scanned twice before I was even able to get to the check-in counter. Then your carry-on luggage is scanned before you board the plane.

So, this is the big question as how whether their security at the airport just didn't see this device or was there inside help? And these are the two big questions right now.

But Egypt security, as we heard from our aviation expert, the security here has been questioned. The British and the Russians have yet to resume flights to Sharm el-Sheikh after the October bombing of the Russian Metrojet crash. So, there is a lot of questions about if Egypt is able to handle the

security at the airports. And what is the quality of the security at the airports especially in the light of someone taking or taking control of the plane hijacking this plane.

[03:25:14] BARNETT: Yes. It's a disturbing development. It raises many questions. And we just don't have all the answers right now.

Ian Lee live for us in Cairo.

Let me just update you on the breaking news we're covering at this moment. The information we have confirmed as of right now, is that this EgyptAir flight had been hijacked while it was en route from Alexandria to Cairo taken north to Cyprus.

And you're looking at live pictures, as the aircraft itself sits on the runway there at the Larnaca airport. The latest information we have is that negotiations with the hijacker are currently are underway. And this was facilitated we understand by a number of the passengers being allowed to deplane.

The exact number is unclear. But we're told EgyptAir crew and foreigners, there are about five of them on the aircraft are still onboard. So, this is a very serious situation.

We're going to continue to gather more information for you and update you on the story after this break. Stay with CNN.

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BARNETT: Welcome back to those of you watching here in the states and around the world. I'm Errol Barnett with an update on our breaking news this hour.

A hijacked EgyptAir flight number MS181 has landed at Larnaca in Cyprus. These are live pictures coming to us from there now. The plane, an Airbus 320, was en route from Alexandria to Cairo and had 81 passengers onboard.

[03:30:03] Egypt civil aviation ministry says the pilot was forced to divert the plane by a single hijacker, who claimed to have a suicide belt. EgyptAir says that negotiations with the hijacker have freed most of the passengers, but the crew and some four foreigners are still onboard.

That's the information we have confirmed for you right now. Let's bring in our Ian Lee. He is watching all of this from Cairo, the destination of that flight. And he joins us now. Ian, any information you've been able to gather to update our viewers on this still developing story?

LEE: Well, like you said, Errol, the negotiations are still underway with the hijackers. As you said, we do now know that there are four foreigners and the crew. Those are the only people remaining onboard. All the Egyptians that were on board that plane were able to disembark and get off. The situation, still very much fluid right now. We do not know the

current situation of those negotiations. Normally this is a short flight. A regional flight from Alexandria to Cairo. When this hijacker took control of that and forced it to land in Larnaca.

But right now, the one big question is going to be, how this person was able to get an explosive device, at least what the hijacker is saying an explosive device on that plane. Was this person able to go through normal security to get on the board this plane? Or was this an inside job?

Also it was is this an explosive device? So, we still don't know if it is. So, a lot of questions right. And also the motivation behind that, these are the things we'll be looking into in the coming hours.

BARNETT: A short time ago, Ian, I was speaking with one aviation expert in Australia, who noted that hijacking -- hijackings themselves were much common in the '60s and '70s. Much less frequent in this day and age.

You have countries like the United States which like to say that they do not negotiate with terrorists. How unusual is it that the Egyptian government essentially is confirming that most passengers were able to get off the plane but some remain because negotiations are underway.

LEE: Well, the one thing that's really striking between this situation and the situation that happened last October, when a bomb blew up a Russian Metrojet plane, is the transparency or the communication we are getting from the Egyptian government. They were fairly tight lift last October.

Now, we are getting steady updates from the Egyptian government telling us what exactly is going on. The Egyptian came under a lot of criticism since that October bombing. A lot of it being, their transparency. But also the security.

And that's the other big question right now. You have Russia and the United Kingdom, banning flights from going to Sharm el-Sheikh airport because of security concerns. This is just going to raise more security concerns about whether Egypt can actually secure its airports.

BARNETT: Ian, while you're speaking we're watching live pictures from the Larnaca Airport. We can see the EgyptAir aircraft there. We've seen buses with what I presumed to be passengers who have been released. There seems to be a few military vehicles there at the airport.

And you noted earlier that Egyptair itself is trying to be a bit more transparent with the sharing of information.

Let's show our viewers the most recent tweet from their official account, as they sent it about seven minutes ago. Quote, "Negotiations with the kidnapped, results in the release of all the passengers except the crew and four foreigners." Has there been an effort, Ian, by the government, by EgyptAir, to be

more transparent with information before this? Or is this something new?

LEE: This is something new, Errol. We really haven't seen this sort of transparency or this sort of information that is available to the press, to the public right away. But we'll be monitoring it very closely to see if this continues, especially in whatever direction the negotiations take place.

But right now this is very much a hostage situation in Larnaca, on that plane, where we know that at least according to EgyptAir, as well as Egyptian authorities telling CNN that there are four foreigners onboard that plane, as well, as the crew of that plane.

Negotiations right now, trying to secure the release of those people. And to end the situation peacefully. We do not know the motivation. So, behind this hijacking, what would cause this person to do this?

[03:35:02] Is it terror-related? Is it something else? Is there a grievance that this person has? We just don't know at this hour. That's something we'll be looking into. But really right now the main focus of security officials in Larnaca as well as Egyptian officials is to make sure that this incident ends peacefully, that no one is hurt.

BARNETT: Let's try in spin out some more of information we do have confirmed. We know, according to the pilot from the Egyptian aviation ministry, that one passenger claimed to have an explosive belt. That's why the flight was diverted and taken to Larnaca Airport where we see it now. We can see also that the flight route of that on our screens at the moment. What is the official protocol for something like this?

LEE: Well, to have some of situation like this, the number one thing is to make sure that the passengers and the crew are safe. And to make sure that to get them out of this situation, as quickly as possible. The pilot was able to able to land at Larnaca.

It seems like this person has most likely a list of demands or wants something out of this other than having a suicide belt, blowing himself up and taking down a plane with. As we've seen with the ISIS attack last October, when they blew up that Russian Metrojet plane, their goal was to destroy the plane and take as many lives as possible.

So, really the motivation is going to be crucial for this hijacker, what the motivations are behind this. And can they resolve this peacefully? We do know that the Egyptian president is in contact with the president of Cyprus, trying to resolve the situation.

They are going to be talking about how this can be ended peacefully. But the real big question is, how this was able to happen in the beginning. And did he have -- did this person have inside help?

BARNETT: And for our viewers just joining us, you're watching live pictures, coming to CNN from the Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. As negotiations are underway with an individual who claimed to have a suicide or I should say, an explosives belt, claimed to have this explosives belt.

And the flight was diverted to where you see it now. Because of those negotiations most of the passengers, we understand they are Egyptian, were allowed to deplane.

However, the EgyptAir crew and four foreigners are still onboard that aircraft, as we await more information.

Ian, this flight originated in Alexandria there in northern Egypt. It's a place you've been many times. And I nkow we keep asking this question of how could someone get through with any explosives, if that is what happened here. But just detail for us the security stance and posture at that airport.

LEE: So, when you go to the airport the first thing you do, but right when you go into the building, you go through a metal connector. You also have your luggage scanned. Once you go through there, you go through another checkpoint to also scan luggage and checks people. Then you get to the check-in counter.

So, you have layers of security even before you check in. And after that once you give the check-in counter your bag, that bag goes to another level of security. And then the passenger goes through the final layer of security, which they scan the luggage again. They pat down the passenger.

And so, if this explosive device, if it is in fact an explosive device, was able to get through these layers of security, the question is going to be how competent are these people looking at these bags to detect what is an explosive device and what isn't?

We still don't know if this in fact an actual explosive device. This is what the person is claiming at this moment. The other scenario which is also very concerning is that could this be an inside job. The fact that someone working at the airport was able to give the hijacker the explosive device or some sort of device.

These are the two real scenarios right now that we see that could have taken place. Again, though, we do not know if this is an actual explosive device. This is what the hijacker is claiming at this time.

BARNETT: That's right. These are all claims at this moment. We don't have confirmation that there were explosives onboard. But the pilot of course being as cautious as possible. Thankfully, most of the passengers have deplaned.

[03:40:00] In fact, in these pictures, you see that happening. Passengers with their luggage going from the aircraft to some of the buses there on the airport. Surely relieved, that they're off the plane. It's difficult to read anything else into that as we wait to get confirmation of exactly what is happening onboard.

But we do understand, negations are underway with the individual on that aircraft who claimed to have an explosives belt and diverted that EgyptAir flight from Egypt to Cyprus.

We continue to gather more information for you. Stay with CNN. We're back in a few short moments.

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BARNETT: Continuing now with our breaking news. A hijacked EgyptAir flight, number MS181, has landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyrus. You're seeing some of the recent footage into CNN from there. The plane, an Airbus 320, was en route from Alexandria to Cairo and had 81 passengers onboard.

Egypt civil aviation ministry says the pilot was forced to divert the plane by a single hijacker who claimed to have a suicide belt. He claied to have explosives with him. We have not been able to conform that yet. But an abundance of caution, the pilot diverted the flight to where it is now.

EgyptAir says that negotiations with the hijacker have freed most of the 81 passengers I mentioned. However, the crew and some four foreigners are still onboard. This is an incredibly serious situation.

Tom Ballentyne is the chief correspondent for Orient Aviation. And he joins us now from Sydney to try and get a better understanding of all of this. Tom, first let's just begin with what the standard protocol is in a situation like this, when one passenger on an aircraft claims to have explosives with them. What are pilots supposed to do?

[03:45:00] TOM BALLENTYNE, ORIENT AVIATION CHIEF CORRESPONDENT: Well, pilots, first of all, do have a special signal that they can use to air traffic control, for instance. Some sort of a code word to alert air traffic control or people on the ground that something is amiss.

The question here is, we don't know how this person got onboard with whatever they have on them. Whether or not it is an explosive belt. We don't know how they got into the cockpit. Perhaps they got one of the cabin crew to cockpit because of pilot.

The cockpit door should have been locked. So, they may have gotten one of the cabin crew to call the pilot and tell them. And as you say, the pilot would take no chances. He would follow the hijacker's wishes and go to Cyprus. But the authorities on the ground, could have been alerted very quickly to what was happening quickly.

BARNETT: And just a bit of new information we're getting in, Tom, but I want to bring our viewers. is that, as these negotiations are underway and we look at these pictures of some of the passengers leaving, of security vehicles, becoming present, it's now clear that flights out of Larnaca have been temporarily suspended.

That understandable and diverted to Pathos Airport. And for any of our viewers watching from airports around flights themselves at this moment may be interested in that information.

But, Tom, since we know some of the passengers, most of the passengers as we watch here, have been allowed to deplane, the crew and some foreigners have been forced to stay onboard. What does that tell us? And what is the protocol in this type of situation?

BALLENTYNE: Well, it certainly tells us that whoever is responsible for this, wanting to keep the foreigners. Now we don't know at the moment whether this is some ISIS or some other splinter group of Islamic extremist. We simply don't know it. It could be something quite personal for all we know that been.

Again, the process here would be for negotiators on the ground to carry on negotiations. To try and talk to the hijacker down. To try and find out exactly what he wants. And to see whether his demands can be met in some way and to gain the release of the other passengers.

The airport would be close down because the authorities would have to assume that he does have explosives. And of course, if you have an aircraft exploding on the ground, you don't want other aircraft around. So, they will be treating this very, very seriously and negotiating or attempting to negotiate very seriously with this passing to find out exactly what they want and why they're doing what they're doing.

BARNETT: And for a bit of historical context, Tom, it was just October of last year, that a Russian flight, a Russian jet, fell out of the sky after an explosion took place onboard. That plane killing all 224 people onboard.

It originated from Sharm el-Sheikh, a resort town there in Egypt. The country telling the world that they beefed up security since then. But what is the view from the aviation industry from the experts you will know, of Egyptian security in general when it comes to with airports?

BALLENTYNE: Well, the view is not a very good one. Really, I mean, there's a lot of suspicion, that even though they say they beefed up security, that there are still gaps in security at Egyptian airports.

As we know last year the Russian aircraft was shut down. A number of Western airlines actually stopped flying there because they did not trust the security system. And this incident today certainly raises more very, very serious questions about the level of security with someone could get through that security and onto an aircraft with what he claims is an explosive belt.

BARNETT: Tom Ballentyne is the chief correspondent for Orient Aviation giving us some of his insight from Sydney. To, thank you for that.

Just to update our viewers. We're continuing to watch this breaking news out of Cyprus. An EgyptAir flight diverted by an individual claiming to have an explosives belt. Most of the passengers, as you see there, have been allowed to deplane.

However, the crew and four foreigners, are still onboard. Flights out of this airport have been temporarily suspended and diverted. And we'll continue to get more information for you.

Stay with CNN. We're back after a very short break.

[03:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Always a pleasure to have you here on Weather Watch. Weather Watch for the Americas right now.

We're watching a pattern here with a massive ridge of high pressure, trying to establish itself around the Western U.S. And then, the turf taking right in towards portions of the southwestern and the intermountain region of the United States.

In fact, parts of at least eight states dealing with winter weather advisories, winter storm warnings, in place over this region. It is a very slow-moving disturbance that's locked in place. And you notice as it circulates over the areas, some places could pick up snowfall on the order of meters before it's all set.

The meter of snowfall possible in a few spots where you get up to two and a half to three feet, coming down across the highest elevations of the Rockies and even parts of the Siskiyou as well.

But here we go. Vancouver will take the sunny skies on Tuesday. San Francisco, also a very mild pattern shaping up. You notice a few snow showers possible in the morning hours around Montreal. And New York City, a blustery afternoon. The temps into the 11 to 12 degrees range. And it does wants to warm up significantly as you go in towards Friday.

We begin April on a very mild note across parts of the Eastern U.S. And certainly good news across that region with temps around 20 degrees. Way your way to the south, Managua, temperatures in to the upper 30s. It looks to remain dry. Kingston, a little blustery at times. It should be on the dry side as well. We'll way our way up for a little farther to the east; thunderstorms are possible across that region. And you notice, a few showers also are expected around Parana.

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BARNETT: Continuing now with our breaking news.

A hijacked EgyptAir flight, number MS181, has landed at the Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. That is an Airbus 320 and it was en route from Alexandria to Cairo with 81 passengers on board. This was before Egypt civil aviation ministry says that the pilot was forced to divert this plane by a single hijacker who claimed to be wearing a suicide belt.

EgyptAir says that negotiations with that hijacker who freed most of the passengers but the crew and some four foreigners are still onboard, as these negotiations continue.

Sajjan Gohel is the international security director for the Asia- Pacific foundation, and he joins us now on the line with more on this still breaking story. So, Sajjan, there are more questions than answers at this moment. But a hijacking of an aircraft is such a rare incident, in this day and age. Much more common decades ago. What do you make of what we're all watching unfold?

SAJJAN GOHEL, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR: Well, certainly people are nervous and scared that it's what happened, especially as terrorist that has been so common in the last few days. It's only one week now since the Brussels attack.

But, Errol, I would say that this is unusual. It's different to the types of incidents that we've seen on aviation security. Recently, we said that it's more the old fashioned style of threats to aviation security.

If this individual was connected to say a group like ISIS, I think the fate of the passengers would already been decided. The fact that most of them have been released except for the foreigners and the air crew, it's a positive sign. It means that this individual does seem to be willing to negotiate.

[03:55:02] So, one had to be hopeful that for the progress can be achieved without any fatalities to any of the people onboard.

BARNETT: Now we don't have confirmation that this individual has actual explosives. That we know from the aviation ministry is that the pilot reported back that this passenger claimed to have explosives. And that's why the flight was diverted.

But I want to see what you make of this statement that we got in from Egyptians officials, they essentially, and I'll just quote them here, quote, "I doubt that he had explosives because security has been heightened across all Egyptian airports. But we'll be able to confirm later."

Essentially, this individual with Egypt civil aviation ministry telling CNN that they are doubtful that there are explosives onboard. But only because security has been heightened in Egypt. We don't have confirmation of this yet. And neither do they. What do you make of that doubt?

GOHEL: Well, it's important to establish this for sure, one way or another. Because ever since the Metrojet plane, the Russian aircraft that was blownup midair last year. And that was connected directed to the ISIS affiliate in Egypt.

There has been concern that there are lapses in Egyptian airport security, that if a bomb could get smuggled onboard an aircraft, then it means that there is either collusion or there is incompetence. Now, if the...

(CROSSTALK)

BARNETT: Well, Sajjan, I just want to interrupt. I need to ask you to stand by as we continue to get more information on all of this.

Stay with CNN on this breaking story. We're back after these messages.

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