Ah...yeah...I see your point. Although I've known a few guys that were "discouraged" from pursuing an airline career, I guess if I'm being honest, I know quite a few more that need to go but probably never will.

The money quote of all this, is that the Swiss didn't scramble any fighters because, "The Hijacking took place outside of normal Air Force business hours". LOL

Couldn't he just have land in Italy as scheduled and then taken the train?

Some countries limit you to seeking asylum from the country you just left. In which case he would be seeking asylum from Italy. Also, the EU has a problem with "asylum shoppers." if you're turned down in one country, you can't reapply in another. So you pick where you want to end up.

He knew the trains in Italy are unreliable due to strikes!