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Hijacked EgyptAir Flight Lands in Cyprus. Aired 4-5a ET

Aired March 29, 2016 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:10] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ERROL BARNETT, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: I want to welcome viewers here in the United States and those of you watching from all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett with breaking news out of Cyprus.

A hijacked Egypt air flight MS181 landed short time ago at Larnaca International Airport, that plane was on route from Alexandra to Cairo and had 81 passengers on board. EgyptAir says negotiations with the hijacker are under way. Already, they freed most of the passengers. You see footage of them deplaning and getting onto some of the buses there at the airport.

But, the crew and four foreign nationals, we understand, are still on board as this individual who claims to have explosives continues negotiations with Egyptian officials. Now, the Egyptian civil aviation ministry says the plane was forced to divert that plane by that individual with explosives. We don't know who that individual is, what kind of demands they are making, who they to be aligned with either all of this fast moving and breaking situation.

We want to bring in now our correspondent in Cairo, that was the original destination of this flight, Ian Lee.

Ian, what information have you been able to gather in this breaking situation, which has only been taking place for just over an hour.

IAN LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Errol, what we're hearing right now from one Egyptian official from the ministry of civil aviation saying, quote, "I doubt that he had explosives because security has been heightened across all Egyptian airports. But we will be able to confirm that later." That's a direct quote from an Egyptian official downplaying the fact that is an actual explosive device.

We do not know whether the device the hijacker claims is in fact real or not. But what we know is this plane took off from Alexandria at 6:30 a.m. This is a short flight to Cairo, about 45 minutes. There were 81 people on board, just minutes into the flight the plane was diverted to Larnaca. It's been on the ground there for over an hour now.

As these negotiations take place, we know from Egyptian officials from EgyptAir officials, there are seven crew members and four foreign hostages on board. So, 11 hostages, as well as the hijacker. Flights to Larnaca have been diverted. Egyptian officials are in contact with the Cypriot counterparts.

But other than that, we do not have much more information about the motivation. That's the real key right here, what is the motivation behind this. Right now, officials are trying to make sure this incident ends peacefully -- Errol.

BARNETT: And, Ian, in the statement that you just read, the aviation industry is attempting to put a bit of doubt that the individual has explosives with them. They don't know. They go on to say they can't confirm that yet, although they plan to very soon.

What is the security posturing at the airport of origin in Alexandria? What do we know about the security situation where this flight originated?

LEE: So, this really all goes back to October when the ISIS blew up a MetroJet plane. After that, Egyptian officials promised that they were going to beef up security at not only the airport in Sharm el Sheikh, but across the country, to ensure people that coming to Egypt, flying to Egypt was safe, traveling through the airport myself, there are layers, levels of security you have to go through before you are able to get to your plane. There's many times where they scan your luggage and check for it.

So, this is what we're seeing from the Egyptian civil aviation ministry, is saying that they have increased security. That security has been stepped up, that any sort of explosive device would have been detected, although they have said they still aren't sure whether this device is real or not. But they want to also at the same time reassure people who are traveling to Egypt that they are taking security very seriously at these airports.

BARNETT: A tense situation for the Egyptian officials, for those passengers and crew, of course, and for anyone with relatives who are on that plane.

Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo, we will let you go to gather more information from all of your contacts.

We want to now reconnect with Sajjan Gohel, the international security director for the Asia Pacific Foundation.

[04:05:02] He is with us on the phone.

So, John, I had to politely cut you off a few minutes ago as we got our ducks in order. But you were speaking of the MetroJet crash last October about the Russian airliner and how it feeds into the perception of the security in Egypt. I want to allow you to finish your thought on that.

SAJJAN GOHEL, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR FOR ASIA PACIFIC FOUNDATION (via telephone): Right. We recall the incident itself and it seems an ISIS affiliate Wilayat Sinai based in the Sinai Peninsula managed to smuggle an explosive device on the MetroJet Russian plane. And it blew up midair. Ever since then, there has been a concern that is incompetence or

collision and Egyptians airports now, they have taken tougher measures to vet people at the airport as well as the scan processes are done. This incident doesn't seem to be similar in any way. It tends to be more unique, a more old fashion style of terrorism where hijackers make demands.

The fact that many of the passengers have been released is a positive sign. It's possible that the motivations are more personal rather than ideological. We'll have to wait and see, Errol, but the fact is that at moment, no one appears to have been killed or wounded. And that is something that one can be hopeful about.

BARNETT: That's right. And in this situation, Sajjan, all we know is that this EgyptAir flight was diverted from its domestic route within Egypt and it now sits on that runway at the Larnaca airport with most passengers offloaded. Foreign nationals and crew are still on board. What would the protocol be? Obviously, Egyptian officials are in negotiation with this individual.

Have procedures changed over the past few years with new forms of terrorism emerging? Will they be dusting off an old protocol book to resolve this?

GOHEL: It seems they have to go old school in order to negotiate with this individual, because it's rare nowadays to have these negotiations taking place because I'm afraid with the way aviation security has been since 9/11 is that the goal has been to use the plane as a weapon and passengers as tool.

So, the fact is that this individual is perhaps not ideologically connected to a group or affiliated to an asset. There's speculation and it is only speculation right now in the Cypriot media, that the individual holding people hostage is the ex-wife who live in Cyprus. Now, that needs to be confirmed. But again, it fits into the scenario that this is somebody who is being affected on something personal rather than something that is associated with a terrorist group.

BARNETT: Sajjan Gohel there, the international security director of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, describing this is an unusual incident, unlike other acts of terrorism that we see in this day and age, but we don't know if terror is part of the motivation here.

Sajjan, thank you very much for your time.

As we continue to cover this breaking story, we want to bring in Philip Baum. He is the editor of Aviation Security International.

Philip, what do you make of this situation as we see it?

PHILIP BAUM, AVIATION SECURIYT INTL. LONDON (via telephone): Of course, as everybody said, it's very early. We don't know if this is a terrorist act. I'm sure it is terrorizing for everybody on board the aircraft, but this could be the actions of the lone individual, either a lone wolf terrorist or somebody with severe psychological problems and claiming to be carrying an explosive device on his body. We don't know yet whether or not security has been penetrated by an

improvised explosive device managed to be carried through the checkpoint. We don't know what is onboard. We'll just have to wait and see how this pans out.

BARNETT: How is it supposed to pan out when an airline from Egypt gets diverted to separate jurisdiction, Cyprus, and negotiations continue, but surely, they want to get some kind of security presence closer to the plane, closer to the aircraft to figure out who this individual is, and if in fact they have explosives with them? How much of this is complicated by the that Egypt flight has been diverted out of country?

BAUM: It's not complicated rather than we're in Cyprus rather than Egypt. So far, it always seems to be fairly textbook in nature. I mean, really sort of quite 1980s or 1990s in terms of the style of attack, that an aircraft is hijacked.

[04:10:03] We're not sure how the hijacker managed to gain control of the aircraft on board and divert to a foreign state where passengers were released. It is interesting that actually the hijackers managed to keep foreign nationals on board while seemingly keeping control of the flight deck.

So, I mean, the initial speculation was, of course, that there would be more than one hijacker on board to achieve that. But we have had hijacks in the past. Only a decade ago, a Turkish Airlines hijacked out of Albania to Istanbul, where the flight deck crew believed that there were three hijackers because the cockpit was stormed by one sole hijacker who claimed to have explosives strapped around his waist, but actually all he had was newspaper packed around his waist.

And he said that that was C-4 explosives. The crew believed, didn't want to risk not believing the hijacker. The aircraft landed in Italy and eventually everybody was released.

It appears something similar to that that we're seeing now. The hijacker probably is holding a few people back on board just to secure his own release and make sure it doesn't all come to a very sorry end.

BARNETT: And you hope for something like that. The best-case scenario being this individual doesn't have explosives with them and that this was an attempt to get some kind of personal aim or personal goal achieved. But with all of this unfolding in front of our eyes, we just don't know.

Philip Baum joining us on the line from London, is the head of Aviation Security International.

Philip, thank you very much for that.

We now want to bring in Geoffrey Thomas, the editor of chief of AirlineRatings.com.

Jeffrey, most of the passengers have been al allowed to deplane. And in the footage that we're seeing, they appear calm, they have their luggage with them. They had time to pick that up and take it to the buses and be transported further.

The crew and four foreign nationals, though, are still on board. What do you make of the scenario as we see it right now?

GEOFFREY THOMAS, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, AIRLINERATINGS.COM: Well, of course, it is very early days, but keeping foreign nationals on board would possibly indicate that it may be associated with a terrorist act.

We don't want to name any terrorist organizations at this stage, but the fact Egyptians have been released possibly indicates that the focus of this particular hijacking is directed at Westerners or foreigners. Beyond that, it's hard to work out exactly what's going on.

And as we have seen everybody was very calm. But mind you, we have probably been told to calmly walk off the aircraft. If you are instructed to do that, that's exactly what you are going to do. The fact they are led off would bring calmness to them as well. I would imagine.

BARNETT: We were just listening to Philip Baum recalling that the last time he remembers a hijack scenario like this was a decade ago. Can you remember an incident like this recently? It does seem more rare at this day and age.

THOMAS: Look, it has become rather rare. And, you know, viewers may well remember the '60s, '70s and '80s ,when hijackings were very common. And at one state, there were almost 80 hijackings a year at a time.

After 9/11, things changed dramatically, and hijacking essentially reduced dramatically. This is a new development. It's a new development particularly associated with suicide.

Bombings we have seen of late and, of course, the threat as an earlier guest suggested, it's very difficult to know whether someone has explosives under clothing. You have to take the threat as very real.

BARNETT: And that's exactly what officials are doing right now. Geoffrey Thomas is the editor in chief of AirlineRatings.com.

Geoffrey, stay close by. We'll need your insight here in the hours ahead as we continue to cover this breaking story.

A hijacked EgyptAir flight has landed safely in Cyprus, but negotiations are under way with the hijacker, as the crew and four foreign nationals remain on board.

Stay with CNN as we prepare to speak with a former pilot who has been in situations like this before. We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:16:55] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett at CNN Center, with breaking news out of Cyprus this hour.

A hijacked EgyptAir flight MS181 landed at Larnaca International Airport. The plane was en route from Alexandria to Cairo. It had 81 passengers on board at the time.

EgyptAir telling us negotiations e under way and they led to the release of the passengers you see there. Most of the passengers on board, we understand they were all Egyptian. However, at this moment, crew, seven of the crew members and four foreign nationals are still on board as these talks continue.

The Egyptian civil aviation ministry says the pilot was forced to divert this plane by a single hijacker who claimed to have a suicide belt. Cyprus media report that the hijacker may have personal motives perhaps, possibly dealing with an ex-wife in Cyprus.

CNN has not been able to confirm that information independently. It is still unclear who this person is or what demands they are making right now.

We do want to give you perspective on incidents like this. We are joined by Roger Guiver. He's a former British Airways pilot who once made an emergency non-standard landing and his wife is also involved in a hijacking some 15 years ago.

Roger, thanks for joining us on CNN at this time.

First, as a pilot, tell us your story. What triggered your decision for a non-standard landing?

ROGER GUIVER, FORMER BRITISH AIRWAYS PILOT (via telephone): Well, it's looking quite that. One of your researchers was talking about hijacks and the like. My experience was from a training point of view, that here in the United Kingdom, the authorities used to regularly conduct training exercises. These were carried out on an aircraft full of passengers. The scenario being that the aircraft had had an incident and was un-airworthy.

So, the training aspect of it was the negotiations went on the ground at Heathrow between ourselves on the aircraft and the authorities, but just like at Larnaca, here we have the crew on the aircraft with a number of passengers still held by this hijacker and they will be negotiating as to a safe conclusion.

So, the aspects of my incident was the negotiation that go on from the aircraft through to the authorities so that everybody is up to speed so to speak with the various procedures that were in place. I think the crew's issue here that we have obviously since 9/11 got a very much a lot sealed flight deck environment. But one is still in communication with the cabin crew. The last thing you're going to do is open the flight deck door in this case.

But you are going to take information from the cabin crew. It would suggest that they felt this hijacker had some sort of device.

[04:20:04] Nobody's been able to confirm that. But one has to assume the worst. And in this case, the flight crew did what they were required without hopefully allowing the hijacker into the flight deck to bring the aircraft into Larnaca. And then it becomes a negotiation issue with the total release of the crew and remaining passengers safely.

BARNETT: And what would the role of the crew be at a moment like this? Already, you know, you pilots already have nerves of steel to do the jobs that you have. An incident like this, though, the pilot telling the Egyptian Civil Aviation Ministry that the passenger claimed to have a suicide belt. A decision was made to land the plane here and continue with these talks. But those talks be conducted through the pilot? Through staff?

GUIVER: Yes.

BARNETT: Will they literally be holding up a phone to the hijacker? Explain what your training --

GUIVER: Initially on the normal VHF frequency. At Larnaca, you will have normal ground control frequency. There will be a couple of other frequencies they used around the airfield. But they will have is one or two dedicated for this sort of negotiation.

So, they will change one of their radio sets to this remote frequency, and the negotiations will be carried out on that frequency. It can get a little bit more sophisticated. It's -- a communication lead to be placed into the headset jack, as it's called -- a small plug normally used by the ground engineer during the engines starting. So, one can plug that in so a remote far more secure communication link could be established with the aircraft.

BARNETT: And just for our viewers who may be tuning in right now. We are speaking with Roger Guiver, a former British Airways pilot on the line with us from Oxford, as we watch these pictures coming from Larnaca International Airport, where an EgyptAir flight has been hijacked and diverted to Cyprus. Most passengers have been deplaned, but the crew and four foreign nationals are still on board.

Roger, your wife was involved in a hijacking some 15 years ago. It is the type was -- that was more common decades ago. What can you tell us about her experience?

GUIVER: They had just done a flight from Thessaloniki to (INAUDIBLE) to Heathrow, and they had a gentleman tried to gain access to the flight deck. The crew are very well-trained. So, it was picked up early on.

One cabin crew member was injured, but others managed to restrain the passenger. The surprising thing, talking to the crew, was how at that time, this is back in the 1970s, how the passengers were very happy just to sit and watch. Nowadays, when you look at 9/11, passengers seem quite rightly to realize the situation they were in and took action.

But back in the 1970s, it was all sort of oh, gosh. What's happening here? I don't think many people bearing in mind there weren't such things as suicide bombers and the like, and so, most hijacks ended up with the hijackers still remaining alive and sometimes in captivity and sometimes not. Things have moved on. And perhaps --

BARNETT: It is much of a different world we're in now. I know your experience with British Airways. This is an EgyptAir flight. It's an Airbus 320.

What kind of resources would a flight crew have available? Sometimes you hear of the flight crew being able to restrain an unruly passenger for example using extra seatbelts. Is it suggested in this day and age to try to engage with someone making these threats? If so, what tools would they even have?

GUIVER: Within the cabin, there are restraint devices. I've had a passenger that was very violent, and we within the airline as with all U.K. airlines, initially it used to be devices to just tie the wrists together and we just went to handcuffs. And a couple occasions, I actually had to authorize the use of handcuffs. In this occasion, it was just unruly drunken passengers.

[04:25:03] But the same procedures that the cabin crew training is superb to actually overcome, albeit more difficult, as somebody saying I have a suicide vest on. But the training that they go through allows them to use all of the various devices on the aircraft.

The flight crew's side of it is very much remaining removed from the -- what is going on in the cabin as far as possible by the locked flight deck door. Obviously, they have communication with air traffic control and through the sort of relevant authorities, initially, by a secure code that will straightaway highlight on the radar controllers' radar screen to show that there has been an hijack that actually occurred.

Thereafter, it goes to the communications via VHF and radio to pass as much information on, such that the authorities are aware of what's going on and they can formulate a plan.

BARNETT: As far as the information available, what we know now, many of the passengers were able to deplane. The crew and four foreign nationals are still on board. The Egyptian civil aviation ministry telling us that negotiations are currently underway with the individual who claimed to have explosives with them.

EgyptAir has been sending out regular tweets these past few hours, confirming the hijacking, confirming the information I've just mentioned, and they just sent another emergency out. An emergency call center number for anyone who might be within Egypt or internationally to contact them to get more information. How much information is an airline meant to make public? How much are they supposed to keep private in a situation like this?

GUIVER: Well, I think one has to realize with a lot of hijackers, they are professionally trained. They know all of the procedures on the air, sorry, all the equipment that's available on the aircraft. So, one in the case of here at Cyprus, one is a local say television station or radio station, has to be careful what they actually say, because the hijackers are almost certainly, especially with radio, going to be listening to what's being said.

So, for example, all these passengers have been released will be debriefed. I would be surprised if you see any of them for a day or so because they know a lot more about what is going in the aircraft prior to them being allowed to leave.

With that, I agree with a previous caller that everything seems from the way they left the aircraft to be quite calm. It was almost a normal disembarkation, carrying their hand baggage. Whereas I'm sure you got lots of footage of previous hijacks where passengers want to get off as soon as possible. I would not say in a panic, but they don't leave as these passengers calmly did, carrying their bags down the steps, and strolling toward the coach to take them to the terminal.

So, I think things would seem to be quite calm on the aircraft, albeit with hijacker still retaining a number of passengers and crew.

BARNETT: Roger Guiver, is a former British Airways pilot, giving us some of his personal insight and the type of training and protocol necessary during times like this.

I appreciate that. But, Roger, thank you for that.

But we are watching these pictures as EgyptAir crew and four foreign nations remain on that aircraft while negotiations with an individual who claims to have explosives continue.

Stay with CNN as we get more information on this breaking story. More on all of that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:31:12] ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BARNETT: I'm Errol Barnett at CNN Center with more information on the breaking story we're following right now.

The hijacked Egypt flight currently in Cyprus. As far as w understand, here's how the sequence of events unfolded. EgyptAir MS181 left Alexandria's Borg El Arab Airport around 6:30 a.m. local time. That flight was headed to the capital Cairo, with 81 people on board.

Now, a short time after takeoff, this plane was hijacked. It was then diverted and landed at Larnaca Airport in Cyprus. An Egyptian team, we're told, is negotiating with the hijacker.

All passengers have been released that is except for five foreign nationals and seven crew members. All flights into Larnaca are currently being diverted. So, that's the latest information as we have it.

But we want to bring in Ian Lee. He is joining us now live from the destination of this flight Cairo. Ian, it appears that most passengers have left the aircraft. These

negotiations have continued. But what more do we know about the situation?

LEE: That's right. Just to recap, there are seven crew members on board this plane and five foreigners.

Earlier, we heard that four foreigners were left on the plane. The ministry corrected that. There is five.

Right now, they are looking into the motivation behind this incident. There has been some doubt cast by the Egyptian officials about whether this is an explosive device like the hijacker claims. One Egyptian official saying, quote, "I doubt he had explosives because security has been heightened across Egyptian airports, but we will be able to confirm that later.

This official is referencing the fact that ever since October when the Russian metro jet plane was blown up over Egypt, that officials have stepped up security at airports across the country. We do not know if this hijacker's explosive device which he claims is actual real or not.

But officials and the pilot aren't taking any chances that plane landing in Larnaca. What we are also hearing from Egyptian officials is that there were a number of foreign nationals on board, not just the five that are already onboard. We are hearing that there were eight Americans, four Dutch, two from Belgium, four from the U.K., one Syrian, one French and one Italian. So, 21 foreigners were on this flight. A lot of Egyptians have dual nationality, which could be the reason why they're saying that five foreigners are on the plane. And all the Egyptians were taken off, and that number, that 21 foreigners comes from Egypt's ministry of civil aviation.

But, right now, Egyptian officials are working closely with officials in Cyprus trying to resolve the situation peacefully -- Errol.

BARNETT: That's right. And it's not uncommon for breaking incidents for like (AUDIO GAP) fluctuate slightly, that making it happen.

Ian Lee is getting the latest information for us from (AUDIO GAP) later, Ian.

Let's turn to journalist Elinda Labropoulou. She is in Athens and joins us now on the line with this breaking story.

Elinda, it has been a few hours that this flight had been hijacked and diverted and now sitting there on the runway in Cyprus. What information do you have on this breaking story?

ELINDA LABROPOULOU, JOURNALIST (voice-over): Well, the positive news from Cyprus authorities that we've had so far is that the negotiations are underway.

[04:35:02] So, it's very good that the two sides have established contact and they're actually talking. Also, the release of most of the passengers has been taken as a positive step. We do know that only four foreign nationals now remain on the plane, as well as crew.

The identity of the hijacker has been released. He is an Egyptian national. There are some reports emerging that he's actually asking for political asylum in Cyprus. It remains to be confirmed.

But it does seem to take to distance us a bit from the fear of a possible terrorist attack. And it does seem to be the case that this man could actually have personal motives for -- that led him to this decision. But this is all, of course, yet to be confirmed information. We know the plane has been in a secure part of Larnaca Airport, away from anything else, away from people and all flights have been diverted to other airports.

So, that area remains very much under police control and a situation generally seems to be sort of being more controlled than previously.

BARNETT: That's a very interesting possibility there, Elinda. We received a state from the Egyptian president in the past few minutes, simply underscoring his commitment to the safety and security of passengers and making it clear that he is coordinating with counterpart there in Cyprus. We don't know for sure if this individual is seeking asylum, if that's been confirmed.

However, what is the relationship between Egypt and Cyprus?

LABROPOULOU: Well, the relationship with Egypt and Cyprus, because they're neighbors in the same area. It's had its problems in the past, but overall, it remains positive. There is cooperation between the two countries. The two sides are indeed talking at the moment and trying to resolve this situation, this emergency situation.

We heard this from the Cyprus authorities as well. The two countries where there are trade agreements. There is a lot of movement between the two, a lot of commercial links with the two sides. So, it's clear that both will try to do their best to do what's best for those on board and to try to resolve the situation.

BARNETT: Elinda Labropoulou is in Athens for us as we continue to get information on the breaking story. An EgyptAir flight has most passengers off loaded, but the crew and five foreign nationals still onboard.

I want to bring in now, Fawaz Gerges, from London. He is the chair of the contemporary Middle East studies of London School of Economics.

And, Fawaz, you have to reach back at least a decade to find a similar incident of a plane hijacking. What do you make of what we are seeing happening right now?

FAWAZ GERGES, CHAIR, CONT. MIDDLE EAST STUDIES, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECON.: You are absolutely correct. This is quite surprising at this particular moment because most of the terrorists driven attacks are deadly attacks. The other downed a plane like they did with the Russian jet in Sinai last year, or basically they kill tourists and foreigners. So, this is a kind of a different attack. That's why and this is more

hope on my part as opposed to having any information, this could be the work of one or hijackers or individuals who are very angry or personal reasons or vendetta against the Egyptian security forces. We have to wait and see. A bit alarm by the fact that the hijacker or hijackers have allowed all Egyptians to leave the plane except five foreigners and crew.

And this tells me it might be a political or ideological reason or basically for negotiating strategy with the Egyptian authorities. We have to wait and see.

The big point here is that I don't understand after, you know, some major security problems with Egyptian security forces and I mean, basically, airports. How this hijacker or hijackers were able to get an explosive device if there is an explosive device, on the plane.

We know this was an internal flight. We know internal flights don't have regular security checks. It was Alexandria and Cairo. We have to wait and see on the motivation behind this particular hijacking.

[04:40:00] It seems to me that on the fact is there are only foreigners, five foreigners, and the Egyptian crew left on the plane that basically -- I mean, the hijacker or hijackers want to basically negotiate with the Egyptian authorities regarding other personal matter or even if political ideological motivation.

BARNETT: Has Egypt had to deal with a situation like this in recent memory? A hijacking of an aircraft rarely results in the hijacker getting their demands. So, would they be hard pressed in the day of modern terror attacks? As you mentioned suicide attacks.

Would they find it difficult at this moment to try and resolve everything if this individual has specific personal aims if that is, in fact, what's playing out?

GERGES: Well, we have to wait and see what the demands of the hijacker or hijackers. If it is really petty demands, I imagine the authorities don't want to turn this particular development into a greater tragedy.

Egypt is facing multiple insurgencies as you know in the Sinai in particular. Hundreds of Egyptian officers have been killed. Tourists, officials, again to come back to the Russian jet that was bound over Sinai, you know, hundreds were killed and injured.

So, the reality is the Egyptian economy is suffering a great deal. The tourist sector has basically suffered a major setback in the past year as a result of the drying up of tourists, in particular the Russian tourists. My take is the Egyptian government is going to do it's utmost to prevent this particular incident from turning into a greater one because it effects the economy.

The Egyptian authorities would be hard pressed to really make any major concessions because they are facing multiple insurgencies if they give up to this particular demand, the hijacker of the hijackers, this would really become a major security problem (AUDIO GAP) years.

BARNETT: (AUDIO GAP) one individual at play or an organized network. It's just unclear at this point. We know someone has been able to force the EgyptAir plane to divert from its original route and land there at Larnaca Airport.

Fawaz Gerges, speaking to us there from London, the chair of the contemporary Middle East studies at the London School of Economics.

We're going to gather more information on the still breaking story. Stay with CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BARNETT: I want to update you on the breaking news we're following out of Cyprus. A hijacked EgyptAir Flight MS181 landed at the Larnaca International Airport. Now, that plane was on route from Alexandria to Cairo and had 81 passengers on board.

Negotiations with the hijacker safely freed most of the passengers earlier and you can see them here, appearing to deplane casually moments ago. Four to five more individuals were seen exiting the plane. So, these are very positive developments. It's unclear how many remained onboard.

The Egyptian civil aviation ministry saying the pilot was forced to divert this aircraft by a single passenger, a hijacker with a suicide belt. They claimed to have explosives with them. Cyprus media report that the hijacker may have had personal motives with an ex-wife in Cyprus. We still don't know for sure who this person is or what demands he is making.

We continue to attempt to get confirmation on all this.

Let's bring in Ian Lee who is watching this all for us from Cairo.

It's been a fast developing story, Ian. What information do you have?

LEE: I just got off the phone with the spokesman of the president here. And we are -- he told me the name of the hijacker is Ibrahim Samaha. That is according to the spokesman of the Egyptian president, saying that is the person that took control of the plane. He also added that this is a person who is a dual national as well, an Egyptian.

According to the spokesman, an Egyptian-American national is the hijacker. Now, this is coming from the Egyptian presidency. So, we cannot independently verify that information right now.

But what we're also hearing from the Egyptian officials is that the negotiations are underway. We're expecting a statement from the military of civil aviation here shortly. They're going -- they're actually giving a press conference shortly. We'll be getting more information then.

But just to recap exactly what has been taken place. At 6:30 this morning, an airplane from Alexandria, Egypt, was coming here to Cairo, a flight of about 45 minutes. A short flight, it was diverted to Larnaca in Cyprus.

But the hijack has released all Egyptians, except for five foreign nationals, seven crew members also remain on board. The air space around that area has -- or flights been diverted, and the negotiations are underway. Egyptian officials saying that they want a peaceful resolution to the situation.

BARNETT: And, Ian, it is good to get new, fresh confirmed information from you. The hijacker confirmed is Ibrahim Samaha. You were saying there, he is an Egyptian-American. Were any other details made available about what his motivation maybe or what demands he's making?

LEE: That's it. This is coming from the spokesman of the Egyptian presidency who I just talked to confirming this information with me. But that is all the information he's releasing right now. He's saying that more will be released at a press conference that's supposed to take place in about ten minutes from now.

BARNETT: And we will, of course, carry that live here on CNN.

Ian Lee, live for us in Cairo, with that information. The hijackers confirmed to him by the Egyptian presidency as Ibrahim Samaha.

We want to get background information from Larnaca airport from their website. Forty-six flights supposed to be arriving today. Just one of those flights is arriving from Cairo and another was scheduled to depart Cairo.

[04:50:03] Most of the day's scheduled arrivals were coming from Athens, and all of those have been diverted. More than 5 million passengers travelled through this airport in 2015. More than 60 airlines have counters at this airport. They include Lufthansa, Qatar and Emirate. Now, the airport only has one terminal. So, a small but busy place. All of this is taking place in.

For more of the reaction from the still breaking story, let's go to CNN's Kellie Morgan joining us live from London with how Europeans are reacting to what we're seeing -- Kelly.

KELLIE MORGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Errol. Well, basically, what we are seeing a heightened security across Europe since last week since those Brussels attacks unfolded.

So, there is already a heightened security in place across Europe. In fact, even before the attacks, we have seen much more vigilance across Europe. Still, we're seeing attacks that the vigilance has been improved because since January last year, there had been 14 terror attacks on European soil.

So, it is a legitimate concern that there's more threat out there. So, yes, greater security across airports.

The British government has improved its security measures. The Home Secretary Theresa May last week outlining some of those increased measures the day after those Brussels attacks. She said that there are a number of measures, including security checks on some flights. Also, a greater cooperation between European counterintelligence services and also importantly working with countries, third countries is the way they term them to increase security at airports.

So, there has been a greater vigilance and greater heightened security at airports in general. Not specifically in reaction to today, Errol.

BARNETT: And as we get new information, it is highly possible now that this is one individual who may have a personal axe to grind or personally aims, potentially seeking asylum in Cyprus. The news of that and I know it's just coming across in the past hour, surely must be a relief to those watching this.

But, as you mentioned, there is already a heightened security stance at many airports?

MORGAN: Yes, absolutely. You know, this heightened security relate to a wider terrorism threat. But as you say, we've seen this huge migration crisis and frustration that has come out of that.

The increasingly closed borders. Again, in response to fears about the safety of people in Europe. So, while we wait for further details of the motive behind this hijacking, yes, there are -- there is a heightened security. But the questions, of course, remains is how -- how did someone get onboard a plane with an explosive belt? If in fact that is what is happening here.

So, lots of questions to be answered. More details to come out. But if it is indeed a need for asylum, well, again, this is an extreme way of I guess illustrating the frustration about those closed borders across Europe and it gets us back to the issue of the migration crisis, which is only going to escalate as we get into the warmer months, Errol.

BARNETT: All right. Kellie Morgan live for us there in London, with the European reaction to all of this. We're looking at footage there from the airport where the Egypt aircraft is on the runway. Most passengers deplaned. We have seen a few more individuals removed from the plane recently. But it's unclear with the still developing breaking story what is taking place.

I do want to get you this information coming in to CNN. The EgyptAir hijacker, as Ian mentioned to us a short time ago, is confirmed as an Egyptian national who hijacked this aircraft over his ex-wife who lives in Cyprus or is from Cyprus.

This is from a spokesperson for the Cyprus ministry of transportation. So, according to the local officials speaking with CNN, this is an individual who hijacked the aircraft over some kind of incident or disagreement with his wife.

He goes on to tell CNN and this may be the best news we could bring you at the moment, that this incident is not related to terrorism.

The vice chairman of EgyptAir joins us on the phone with the latest information.

Vice Chairman, thanks for your time. What new information can you tell us about who hijacked this plane and why?

AHMED ADEL, EGYPTAIR VICE CHAIRMAN (via telephone): Mr. Barnett, how are you?

My name is Ahmed Adel. I'm the vice chairman of the EgyptAir Holding Company.

As of today, our flight number 181 was bound from Alexandria's Borg El Arab Airport to Cairo.

[04:55:06] And we got a call from the operations from the captain that he has information about one person who's claiming to have an explosive belt and asked to divert the plane to Istanbul or anywhere else in Europe.

The captain informed him there is not enough fuel to land in Istanbul, so he landed at Larnaca airport. As of now, we have on the plane we had 55 passengers plus eight crew. We had negotiated and a lot of people disembarked the plane. We have, as of now, the captain and first officer plus one crew member, plus one security person, four passengers and the hijacker.

What I can say to you is there was no way the hijacker got in the cockpit as the door was locked and closed. No intervention into the cockpit. He is still in the cabin. He's claiming to have an explosive vest. There were rumors about a gun on the plane. That was never confirmed.

This is a situation as of now.

BARNETT: What demands is he making?

ADEL: I'm sorry. I have a very bad connection. Can you raise your voice?

BARNETT: What demands is the hijacker making?

ADEL: As of now, there were no demands. He was talking about having maybe Cypriot wife to talk to. And authorities are dealing with that.

BARNETT: Listening there to the vice chairman of EgyptAir, Ahmed Adel. Thank you very much for that latest information, confirming that it is one individual hijacker claiming to have an explosive belt which is still yet to be confirmed. He did not know of any specific demands. He mentioned to us just a moment ago that it may have something to do with his wife.

He initially wanted this flight diverted to Istanbul. The pilot for whatever reason, made the decision to instead divert the flight to Larnaca Airport there in Cyprus.

Negotiations are continuing. We do want you to stay with CNN as we get more information on the breaking story. For those of you looking to get details, if you've had friends or family on the flight, take a shot of the numbers on your screen. You can also follow EgyptAir on Twitter.

I'm Errol Barnett at CNN Center. Our breaking news continues after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news right now: an EgyptAir flight has been hijacked. It was forced to land at an airport in Cyprus. We know the ID of the hijacker.