Horrifying video shows final moments as hijacked plane crashed into the ocean killing 125 people

Horrifying footage shows the final moments of a hijacked plane before it crashed into the ocean.

The footage starts focussed on a man on the beach, before cutting away to the passenger plane as it attempts to ditch in the ocean.

The crash saw 125 people dead, six of whom were crew and three of whom were hijackers who had taken over the plane.

A further 38 passengers sustained serious injuries in the crash, two sustained minor injuries, and four came out with no injuries.

This was Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961, which had been travelling from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia to Nairobi in Kenya on November 23 1996.

Around 20 minutes after the plane took off the hijackers took over the plane.

An incident report on the tragedy tells how the three hijackers rushed up the aisle towards the cockpit, with one yelling, "everybody should be seated, I have a bomb."

The three hijackers were able to storm the plane's cockpit, grabbing a fire axe and fire extinguisher and ordering the pilot in command to change the plane's destination to Australia.

The plane approaches the sea. (WTN)

According to the incident report, the pilot told the hijackers that there was not enough fuel to get to Australia, and said that they could land at Mombassa in Kenya to refuel.

But the hijackers refused to allow the plane to land for a refuelling stop, and continued to argue with the pilot in command.

They claimed they had read in the in-flight magazine that the aircraft could fly for 11 hours without refuelling.

The pilot tried to explain to the hijackers that this was not reflective of the situation that the aircraft was actually in.

In reality the plane would not have enough fuel to reach Australia, with the pilot showing them the fuel gauges as evidence.

But the hijackers were still not convinced, and threatened to destroy the plane with a bomb if the pilot didn't do what they wanted.

The plane broke apart after hitting a reef. (WTN)

While they were arguing the aircraft ran out of fuel, with the report finding that this was what led to it crashing into the Indian Ocean near the Comoros Islands.

The aircraft broke apart after impacting a reef, at the time of the crash there were 175 people on board.

The flight has since been acknowledged as the first time an aircraft of this type was able to carry out a ditch in water which was partially successful, in that some people on board survived.