Hijacking drama on Aeroméxico Boeing 737 ends safely in Mexico City

The attempted hijacking earlier today of an Aeroméxico Boeing 737-800 ended safely in Mexico City. The drama began shortly after Aeroméxico Flight AM 576 departed from Cancún en route to Mexico City. The hijackers, who were among the 100-plus passengers on the flight, claimed to have a bomb. News reports say the men threatened to blow up the plane unless they were allowed to speak to Mexico's president, Felipe Caldéron.

The hijackers never gained access to the flight deck. The aircraft continued on to Mexico City, where it landed safely and parked at a remote area of the airport. Passengers were allowed to deplane, although the crew were believed to have been held on board at first. Federal police and soldiers reportedly boarded the plane after the passengers had been released and took a number of men into custody.

There is still some confusion as to the exact number and nationality of purported hijackers -- various news media report as few as three and as many as nine. In any case, no explosive device was found on the aircraft, according to Mexico's Transport Minister Juan Molinar.

UPDATE: According to the Bloomberg news service, there was only one hijacker -- a Bolivian man identified by authorities as identified as Jose Marc Flores Pereira -- who said he was inspired by “divine revelation.” Flores reportedly told Mexican authorities that he "took action because today’s date, Sept. 9, 2009, represented an upside-down 666."

Hmmm.

Bloomberg reports:

Flores threatened the crew from Aeromexico flight 576 with a fake bomb about an hour after takeoff from Cancun, [Public Safety Minister] Garcia Luna said. The pilot informed authorities and later acted as interlocutor between Flores and authorities once the plane landed in Mexico City at about 1:40 p.m. local time

At least six other passengers had been removed from the plane in handcuffs, but police later concluded that they were not involved in the hijacking plot.

9/11 Flight Crew Memorial dedicated

A memorial to the pilots and flight attendants who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was dedicated today in Texas. The 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial, which is located in Grapevine, TX, was created to commemorate the heroism of the 33 crew members who lost their lives after their aircraft were hijacked by terrorists on that awful morning in 2001.

The memorial depicts two pilots, two flight attendants, and a child passenger. The sculpture also includes two eagles, signifying the two airlines -- United and American -- that lost aircraft and crew on 9/11. Unveiled today, July 4, 2008, the 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial is the only memorial dedicated solely to the flight crews who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

Sculptor Dean Thompson created the memorial, which is 18 feet high. His wife, Valerie, is an American Airlines flight attendant. Speaking about the memorial to a reporter at CBS 11 TV, Valerie Thompson said, "I hope people recognize that we were the first responders on that day. We had a very important role in helping protect the public."

A message on the website of the 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial Foundation explains:

The name of the bronze art is VALOR – COMMITMENT – DEDICATION. The valor was demonstrated in the professionalism and courage shown by those who perished on that fateful day from the most vicious attack ever on American soil. Their names will always be engraved into stone and history and in our hearts. The crews who climbed back aboard when the sky was reopened demonstrated unparalleled valor going into the unknown to bring everyone home to their loved ones.

Commitment was later demonstrated along with the same courage when their companies called upon them to keep their companies alive by giving up pay that they earned, to keep solvency available in the terrible years following. They still have not been repaid for this courageous effort, but they demonstrated commitment and continue to work under conditions worse than ever.

Dedication to their jobs making safety in the sky their number one issue is paramount. They have been pushed to the limit with rest time barely reaching minimums. Flying safe aircraft has been questionable as recently demonstrated by actions taken by FAA to this regard.

We are honoring all flight crews of all airlines internationally. We are placing this memorial under the flight path into one of America’s largest and busiest airports, Dallas Fort Worth International. It will be visible from the sky when approaching from the North or departing to the North.

For information about the memorial, and more photos, visit the 9/11 Flight Crew Memorial Foundation website.

[Photo Source]

AtlasJet hijackers end up in custody in Turkey

Early this morning, two men attempted to hijack an AtlasJet flight en route from Ercan International Airport in northern Cyprus to Istanbul. The MD-83 aircraft with 136 on board diverted to Antalya, a city on Turkey's Mediterranean coast where the would-be hijackers ultimately were taken into custody.

According to a report about the attempted hijacking on CNN, passengers from the flight said that two men from the back of the plane "rushed to the front and tried to break open the cockpit door." When their attempt to enter the flight deck failed, "the men began talking to the flight attendants in a mix of Arabic and English and asked to be taken to either Iran or Syria."

Passengers have told the press that the hijackers claimed they had a bomb, and that at least one of the men was armed with a knife.

News reports say that after the aircraft landed at Antalya, the pilots escaped through the cockpit windows. Some passengers and other crew members were held hostage aboard the plane for several hours after it landed.

The Guardian said that the hijackers allowed one of the doors of the aircraft to be opened for fresh air.

Most of the passengers had escaped the plane from the rear exit at Antalya airport while the hijackers were releasing women and children. But the hijackers held some six crew and passengers for around four hours before allowing them to leave the plane and later surrendering to authorities.

TV news footage shows passengers and other crew members evacuating through emergency exits and running from the aircraft while it sat on the runway at Antalya.

Here are some links to TV footage of the incident, from YouTube:

• BBC World Service - posted by YouTube user komotini24.
• CNN Turk (Turkish language) - posted by YouTube user nusretten.

Turkey's Transport Minister Osman Gunes, quoted by the news media, said one hijacker is Turkish, while the other is believed to be Palestinian carrying a Syrian passport.

This is the second time I've reported on the hijacking of a Turkish airliner this year. In April, a Pegasus Airlines B737 was hijacked on a flight between Diyarbakir and Istanbul.

Pegasus Airlines B737 hijacked in Turkey

Earlier today, a man hijacked a Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Turkish carrier Pegasus Airlines, threatening to blow up the plane. The aircraft, which was on a domestic flight between Diyarbakir and Istanbul, diverted to Ankara. News reports about the incident say that none of the 174 passengers and six crew on board the plane were injured.

The alleged hijacker was identified by Turkey's Anatolian News Agency as Mehmet Gökşin Göl'ün. He was taken into custody at Ankara's Esenboga Airport after having been "rendered ineffective" by officers of the Ankara Police Anti-Terror Division.

An item about the hijacking on the CNN International website quoted a passenger from the flight who said that the alleged hijacker "did not look suspicious" and did not appear to be threatening anyone, but that he tried to approach the cockpit, and told the flight crew he had "something in his belt" and wanted to fly to Iran.

A Reuters report, citing the Anatolian News Agency as its source, described the alleged hijacker as an unemployed man from Diyarbakir with a drug-related criminal record. According to Reuters, Turkish officials denied an earlier media report that a woman had also been arrested in connection with the incident.

[Photo Source]

Hijacked Sudan Airways jet lands safely in Khartoum

A Sudan Airways flight landed safely in Khartoum earlier today after having been hijacked by a lone man armed with a knife. The flight originated in Tripoli, Libya. News reports say that there were more than 200 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus, but no one was harmed in the incident.

According to a  report in the Washington Post, the man had asked to be flown to South Africa, but the crew convinced him to allow the plane to land in Khartoum. A Sudanese civil aviation official said that the hijacker was arrested after the aircraft landed.

"The hijacker burst into the pilot's cabin about one and a half hours from landing and told the captain he wanted to meet with the British ambassador, then he asked to meet the American ambassador and the media," Abdel Hafiz Abdel-Rahim told Reuters.

"Snipers dressed as journalists then took him into custody," he added. The plane, which was carrying 210 passengers, began its journey in Tripoli.

Police released a statement later saying the hijacker was "mentally ill" and trying to take the plane to South Africa but the pilot persuaded him to land in Khartoum.

Abdel-Rahim said the hijacker identified himself as Haloub Saeed but authorities were trying to confirm this.

An article about the hijacking, published in Business Week  identified the hijacker as Said Faloun Said, 39, a Sudanese national, and said he was traveling on a temporary travel permit.

An Al-Jazeera correspondent reported from Sudan that the hijacker originally demanded to land in Bangui, the Central African Republic capital, but was persuaded by the crew to allow the plane to land in Khartoum for refueling. Once on the ground in Khartoum, Sudanese authorities were able to take all passengers off the plane and arrest the hijacker.

The Washington Post article said that the crew even managed to land the plane on schedule at Khartoum. Bravo!!

Air Mauritania hijacking: The rest of the story

You'd think that a hijacker demanding to be taken to France so that he could seek political asylum there might know how to speak French. This one didn't, and that turned out to be his undoing.

More details have emerged about the Air Mauritania flight that was hijacked yesterday. As I mentioned in my previous post, an early Reuters report about the hijacking said that the hijacker was overpowered after he was thrown off balance during the aircraft's landing at Gando Airport on Gran Canaria. Today the rest of the story was told.

When the Air Mauritania pilot in command of the aircraft spoke with the gunman during the hijacking, he realized that the man did not understand French. The pilot cleverly used this to his advantage.

A plan was hatched on the flight deck to intentionally slam on the brakes when the aircraft touched down, and then accelerate abruptly to throw the hijacker off balance. The pilot, identified as Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, used the plane's PA system to communicate his plan to the passengers and cabin crew so that they could prepare.

Here's how an Associated Press item in the UK newspaper, The Independent, told the tale:

The idea was to catch the hijacker off balance, and have crew members and men sitting in the front rows of the plane jump on him, the Spanish official said.

The pilot warned women and children to move to the back rows of the plane in preparation for the subterfuge, the official said.

It worked. As the plane landed on Gran Canaria, the man was standing in the middle aisle when the pilot carried out his maneuver, and he fell to the floor, dropping one of his two 7mm pistols. Flight attendants then threw boiling water in his face and at his chest, and some 10 people jumped on the man and beat him, the Spanish official said.

Another version of the story, published by the Times Online, says that the boiling water was thrown on the hijacker's chest and groin, rather than his face, and that six men, including a Mauritanian mayor, jumped the gunman.

Let's not quibble over fine details. Congratulations to Captain Lemine for coming up with a brilliant plan, and to the crew and passengers for carrying it out so well.

But I still want to know how Mohamed Abderraman, the hijacker, managed to board that flight in Nouakchott with two handguns.

Hijacking drama: Air Mauritania

There was high drama today in the skies over northwest Africa. An Air Mauritania B737 aircraft was commandeered by a pistol-packing hijacker while on a domestic flight between the Mauritanian capital of Nouakchott and the northern port town of Nouadhibou. [Click here for Yahoo! Travel map of Mauritania.]

The hijacker demanded to be taken to France. Instead, the crew flew the aircraft to the Canary Islands.

The aircraft, which was said to be carrying 71 passengers and a crew of eight, touched down at Gando Airport on the island of Gran Canaria. According to a Reuters article about the hijacking, "When the pilot landed he deliberately braked very hard. The man fell to the ground and was jumped on by passengers. He fired two bullets but there are no serious injuries."

The hijacker then gave himself up and was arrested by police.

Another report about the hijacking, published on Forbes.com and elsewhere, mentioned that the hijacker was believed to be Moroccan, and that he acted alone.