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Wan LixinOpinion deputy editor of Shanghai Daily
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Christian hijack drama ends safely
Source: Agencies |
September 11, 2009, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A PASSENGER on a Mexican flight claimed he had a bomb, warned of an impending earthquake and demanded talks with President Felipe Calderon.
God had told Bolivian preacher Jose Flores, 44, about an earthquake "like none there has ever been," he told reporters after being hustled off Aeromexico Flight 576 by police. No one was injured in the standoff at Mexico City airport on Wednesday.
Unsuspecting passengers, including Americans and French tourists traveling from the beach resort of Cancun to Mexico City, were unaware of what was happening as the pilot negotiated with Flores, landed the plane smoothly and ended the attempted hijack.
The crisis began when Flores told a flight attendant that a juice can he had was a bomb. The flight attendant notified the plane's captain over the intercom, Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna told reporters.
Flores kept the 103 passengers and crew on the tarmac for more than an hour, the plane sitting surrounded by heavily armed police at the end of a runway in an area designed for emergencies. The airport remained open.
Pilot Ricardo Rios told the Televisa television network that Flores requested that the Boeing 737 be flown around Mexico City seven times, but there wasn't enough fuel to do that. The hijacker also asked that women reporters and Calderon be at the airport to talk to him, Rios said.
"He said he had tried to speak to the president for three months and since there hadn't been an answer he decided to use these type of threats with an airline," the pilot said.
Eventually, Flores agreed to release women and children. Minutes later, masked police stormed onto the aircraft with guns drawn and soon escorted several handcuffed men away without firing a shot.
Police later said there was only one hijacker.
Flores told police his three companions were "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
He said he hijacked the plane after a divine revelation. Flores told authorities that Wednesday's date, 9-9-09, was the satanic number 666 turned upside down.
Speaking to reporters after he was detained, Flores said he took control of the aircraft with "a juice can ... with some little lights I attached."
"Christ is coming soon," he added, smiling.
His wife, Elizabeth Melgar, told W Radio that Flores "always told me that he was looking for a way to attract the attention of the media ... he always told me that he was waiting for a signal from God to do something."
Garcia Luna said Flores is a drug addict who was convicted of armed robbery in Bolivia and has lived in Mexico for 17 years. Flores described himself as a former drug user and a pastor in Oaxaca state.
He is also a Christian music singer who in videos posted on YouTube sings of leaving drugs and finding God. "I was in jail, I was a despicable drug addict, but Christ freed me a few years ago," he sings.
US, French and Mexican citizens were among the passengers, according to a US official in Washington who was briefed on the situation.
Pamela Cheatham, 48, from Colorado Springs, said passengers "had no idea anything was wrong until we landed," and the pilot announced the plane would be delayed for a security check.
"When I saw the police with big guns and the SWAT teams on the side of the bus, then my anxiety started to happen," she added. "When they said women and children off, then I knew something had to be on the plane."
God had told Bolivian preacher Jose Flores, 44, about an earthquake "like none there has ever been," he told reporters after being hustled off Aeromexico Flight 576 by police. No one was injured in the standoff at Mexico City airport on Wednesday.
Unsuspecting passengers, including Americans and French tourists traveling from the beach resort of Cancun to Mexico City, were unaware of what was happening as the pilot negotiated with Flores, landed the plane smoothly and ended the attempted hijack.
The crisis began when Flores told a flight attendant that a juice can he had was a bomb. The flight attendant notified the plane's captain over the intercom, Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna told reporters.
Flores kept the 103 passengers and crew on the tarmac for more than an hour, the plane sitting surrounded by heavily armed police at the end of a runway in an area designed for emergencies. The airport remained open.
Pilot Ricardo Rios told the Televisa television network that Flores requested that the Boeing 737 be flown around Mexico City seven times, but there wasn't enough fuel to do that. The hijacker also asked that women reporters and Calderon be at the airport to talk to him, Rios said.
"He said he had tried to speak to the president for three months and since there hadn't been an answer he decided to use these type of threats with an airline," the pilot said.
Eventually, Flores agreed to release women and children. Minutes later, masked police stormed onto the aircraft with guns drawn and soon escorted several handcuffed men away without firing a shot.
Police later said there was only one hijacker.
Flores told police his three companions were "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
He said he hijacked the plane after a divine revelation. Flores told authorities that Wednesday's date, 9-9-09, was the satanic number 666 turned upside down.
Speaking to reporters after he was detained, Flores said he took control of the aircraft with "a juice can ... with some little lights I attached."
"Christ is coming soon," he added, smiling.
His wife, Elizabeth Melgar, told W Radio that Flores "always told me that he was looking for a way to attract the attention of the media ... he always told me that he was waiting for a signal from God to do something."
Garcia Luna said Flores is a drug addict who was convicted of armed robbery in Bolivia and has lived in Mexico for 17 years. Flores described himself as a former drug user and a pastor in Oaxaca state.
He is also a Christian music singer who in videos posted on YouTube sings of leaving drugs and finding God. "I was in jail, I was a despicable drug addict, but Christ freed me a few years ago," he sings.
US, French and Mexican citizens were among the passengers, according to a US official in Washington who was briefed on the situation.
Pamela Cheatham, 48, from Colorado Springs, said passengers "had no idea anything was wrong until we landed," and the pilot announced the plane would be delayed for a security check.
"When I saw the police with big guns and the SWAT teams on the side of the bus, then my anxiety started to happen," she added. "When they said women and children off, then I knew something had to be on the plane."
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