The Lufthansa-operated Airbus A310-300 was hijacked by Nebiu Zewolde Demeke,[1][note 1] a 20-year old Ethiopian man seeking asylum who forced the pilot to fly to New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

He was charged with aircraft hijacking by a United States district court, and was sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment.

[1] His father, an economist, was a political prisoner in Ethiopia, and his family moved to Morocco after his arrest to escape persecution.

Though Nebiu attempted to join his siblings in the United States, he was denied a student visa,[6] and was unable to otherwise receive permission to legally enter the country.

Approximately 35 minutes into the flight, as the aircraft reached cruising altitude in Austrian airspace, Nebiu entered the forward lavatory.

The aircraft landed at Hannover-Langenhagen Airport around noon local time, where it was surrounded by law enforcement officials.

Nebiu remained in the cockpit with the pistol to the pilot's head, and threatened to begin killing a flight attendant every five minutes.

[6] German authorities allowed the plane to depart after Nebiu threatened to kill his hostages but promised to surrender peacefully upon reaching the United States.

[7][8][9][10] The aircraft arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport at around 4:00 pm EDT[6] and taxied to a remote part of the runway.

He was found guilty in a jury trial after an hour of deliberation, and Judge Sterling Johnson, Jr. sentenced him to prison until 2013.