AeroMexico Plane Hijacking Ends After Federal Police Raid
A passenger plane for AeroMexico was hijacked in Cancun on Wednesday shortly after takeoff and then flown to the international airport in Mexico City. There were about 112 people on board flight 576, but they were released soon after the plane landed. The crew members were held on board.
The hijackers threatened to blow the Boeing 737 aircraft up unless they got to talk to Mexican President Felipe Calderon. They told the pilot to circle the capital, but he landed anyway, citing low fuel. The hijackers were never inside the cockpit though.
There were thought to be only three Bolivian or Colombian hijackers, but after federal police raided the plane, they detained nine. The hijackers were taken away in handcuffs, and it isn’t known yet why they wanted to speak to the president so badly. There was no bomb found on the aircraft.
During the incident, local television and radio stations reported that the Mexican military was on standby and that the airport was closed. Flights to and from the airport were grounded for safety of other passengers and employees.
Upon being released, some of the passengers told media that they didn’t even know what was going on until the plane landed and saw police surrounding them. They weren’t able to exit the aircraft immediately though. One of the passengers commented that they saw one of the hijackers holding a Bible.
Update: It appears that there was only one hijacker, although nine people were originally detained. The other eight are thought to be passengers who got caught up in the mess.
The hijacker is said to be a 44-year-old Bolivian who is addicted to drugs and alcohol, describing himself to be a church minister. Jose Mar Flores, the suspect, says that he was trying to alert the city of an earthquake. The date of Wednesday - 9/9/9 and 6/6/6 flipped - was significant to him, and he was on a divine mission.