THE NORTH RIDING PROJECT

Students brandishing water pistols hijacked Fryup Air flight FR014 from La Rochelle to Fryup in October 2000, demanding the captain fly them to the Chadian capital, N’Djamena.  After a brief refuelling stop in Algiers, during which all other passengers were released, the plane continued to its destination, where the students spent three days in the presidential palace as guests of Chadian president Idriss Deby.  Airline officials and the Chadian authorities were accused of complicity in the hijacking.  The group’s leader, April Sprule, called it “a prank that went too far.”

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