Hijacked Libyan plane 'with 118 people on board' lands in Malta

That is the second Gaddafi supporters who hijacked a Libyan airplane armed with hand grenades surrendered at gunpoint.

The 2 males had allowed all however the airplane's pilots and different male cabin crew members to depart the plane, resulting in fears they might be readying to take off.

Nonetheless shortly after demanding political asylum in Malta, the hijackers peacefully left the airplane together with the remaining crew.

They have been then dramatically arrested, searched and brought into custody by armed forces.

Scroll down for video

The second the 2 males have been arrested, searched and brought into custody by Maltese armed forces was caught on digital camera

One of many hijackers is arrested whereas the opposite one drops to the bottom as her surrenders

Each males have been searched earlier than being taken away by armed forces for questioning

Gaddafi supporters who hijacked a Libyan airplane armed with hand grenades have surrendered, in any case passengers and crew have been safely launched.

Feminine passengers have been allowed to depart the airplane first, earlier than all these onboard bar the crew have been launched

A bunch of 25 ladies and youngsters have been initally allowed to depart after the 2 males took management of the plane because it flew over Libya, redirecting it to Malta.

A second group, numbering 40, was launched shortly afterwards, earlier than the entire remaining passengers of the Libyan Afriqiyah Airways flight have been allowed to depart.

Earlier it had been reported that they have been calling for the discharge of Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif al Islam, who it was thought had already been freed in July.

Saif is probably the most outstanding of Gaddafi's eight kids and was sentenced to loss of life by a Libyan courtroom in July 2015 as a part of a mass trial of former regime officers.

He was stated to have been launched from home arrest in July after the sentence was quashed by Libya's new UN-backed authorities.

Al Arabiya claimed member of the Libyan Home of Representatives had been current on the plane, as had been Libyan, Indian and Pakistani nationals.

stated to have been taken onboard the airplane seems to point out one of many hijackers standing within the aisle

The 2 males have been stated to be a part of the pro-Gaddafi group Al Fatah Al Gadida, and at one level waved a Gaddafi flag from the airplane's entrance doorway

It's unknown whether or not this of the hijacked airplane's cockpit reveals one of many hijackers or the plane's pilots

A person, who seems to be one of many airplane's pilots, helps individuals to disembark from the airplane

A Libyan passenger airplane has been hijacked by two pro-Gaddafi supporters threatening to blow the plane up

The 2 males have been stated to be a part of the pro-Gaddafi group Al Fatah Al Gadida, and at one level waved a Gaddafi flag from the airplane's entrance doorway.

Former Libyan chief Muammar Gaddafi was killed in an rebellion in 2011, and the nation has been racked by factional violence since.

After the airplane landed, the Malta airport authority stated all emergency groups had been dispatched to what it known as an 'illegal interference' on the tarmac.

A tweet by the Maltese Prime Minister confirmed that there was 82 males and 28 females onboard, together with one toddler.

A Libyan safety official stated the pilot knowledgeable Tripoli Airport Management that hijackers have been stopping him from touchdown in Libya earlier than communication was misplaced.

The tiny Mediterranean island of Malta is about 300 miles north of the Libyan coast.

Joseph Muscat wrote on Twitter that he has been informed of a possible hijack scenario of an inside Libyan flight diverted to Malta

The plan set off from Sebha in Libya and was as a result of land in Tripoli, however as a substitute carried on to the island of Malta additional north

Maltese troops survey a hijacked Libyan Afriqiyah Airways Airbus A320 on the runway at Malta Airport

Libya has been in a state of chaos because the 2011 overthrow of Moamer Kadhafi left warring militias battling for management of various components of the nation.

Forces loyal to a fledgling nationwide unity authorities lately took management of the coastal metropolis of Sirte, which had been a bastion for the Islamic State group since June 2015.

Western powers have pinned their hopes of containing jihadism within the energy-rich North African state on the federal government but it surely has failed to determine its authority over the entire nation.

A rival authority guidelines the nation's far east, backed by the forces underneath army strongman Marshal Khalifa Haftar, who've been battling jihadists in second metropolis Benghazi.

The plane had been flying from Sebha in southwest Libya to Tripoli for state-owned Afriqiyah Airways, a route that might often take a little bit over two hours.

The final time a hijacked airplane landed in Malta was in 1985, when EgyptAir Flight 648 was taken over by three Palestinian members of the terrorist group Abu Nidal.

Joseph Muscat wrote on Twitter that he has been informed of a possible hijack scenario of an inside Libyan flight diverted to Malta

The Malta airport authority stated all emergency groups have been dispatched to the positioning of what it known as an 'illegal interference' on the airport tarmac

Armed Maltese troopers stand guard exterior the airplane (left), which arrived in Malta on Friday morning

The next raid on the plane by Egyptian troops resulted within the loss of life of 58 passengers, with solely one of many three hijackers surviving.

The hijacking of planes was a standard tactic by terrorist organisations over the last 20th century, most notoriously when two plane have been flown into New York's Twin Towers in September 2001.

In March 2015, co-pilot Andreas Lubitz locked himself in a cockpit of Germanwings Flight 9525 when the captain went out for a relaxation.

He then began to descend the plane, and after eight minutes of falling it crashed into the Alps close to the French village Prads-Haute-Bléone, killing 150 individuals.

A yr later, in March 2016, EgyptCyprus Flight MS181 was taken over after a passenger stated he was carrying an explosives belt and was diverted to Larnaca.

The hijacker surrendered after hours of negotiations with no causalities to passengers or crew.