Aeromexico plane hijacked

AP said:
Hijackers are holding a flight from Cancun to Mexico City. Mexico Communications Secretary Juan Molinar says the plane is sitting on the runway at the Mexico City international airport.
Mexican news media report the hijackers are three Bolivian citizens who are demanding to talk with Mexican President Felipe Calderon.
Mexican network TV Azteca reported that the flight Wednesday was carrying 104 passengers.
Click to expand...


Maybe we can deploy the TSA to Mexico?
 
EdFred said:
Nah, it's too easy to cross the border to come back. I vote the moon.
Click to expand...

And the worst part is they're part of DHS - who also runs Border Patrol. So they'd be able to sneak in and claim professional courtesy. :sosp:
 
I thought that this type of hijacking would never occur again after 9/11. Not because of the TSA, but because of the passengers!
 
gprellwitz said:
I thought that this type of hijacking would never occur again after 9/11. Not because of the TSA, but because of the passengers!
Click to expand...

Note that the hijackers were unable to get into the cockpit.
 
gprellwitz said:
I thought that this type of hijacking would never occur again after 9/11. Not because of the TSA, but because of the passengers!
Click to expand...

This type of hijacking seems rather new. The hijacked airplane landed at it's scheduled destination, where the passengers were released. Doesn't seem to be any benefit in the passengers attempting to thwart that effort.
 
roncachamp said:
This type of hijacking seems rather new. The hijacked airplane landed at it's scheduled destination, where the passengers were released. Doesn't seem to be any benefit in the passengers attempting to thwart that effort.
Click to expand...
But how did the passengers know that it was going to land at its destination? There's still too little information to really figure this out yet. Clearly, though, some of the passengers recognized that there'd been a hijacking.

From CNN:
"It was very difficult, but the pilot told us to remain calm," said another passenger, who added that many of the passengers were families returning from vacation in Cancun.
The woman said the hijackers never spoke to them during the 45 minutes they were held.
Click to expand...

"We were scared," said another woman. "But it seemed like things got under control when we came down. We were immediately surrounded when we landed by federal police."
The woman, who had been seated in the middle of the plane, said the hijackers were in the front of the plane.
Click to expand...
 
TSA Mobile response team did deploy and assisted. Here is a photo of them in action

TSA%20Airport%20Police.jpg


I wonder if they turned the x-ray machine off?
 
gprellwitz said:
I thought that this type of hijacking would never occur again after 9/11. Not because of the TSA, but because of the passengers!
Click to expand...
On the ground, there's no percentage in rushing hijackers who claim to have a bomb (especially given the extreme unlikelihood of one getting past security) -- they ain't going to crash the plane if they're not in the air, and if there really is a bomb, it's too likely to go off if you rush them. Before that, the passengers didn't even know there was a hijacking in progress.
 
Last edited:
smigaldi said:
TSA Mobile response team did deploy and assisted. Here is a photo of them in action

TSA%20Airport%20Police.jpg


I wonder if they turned the x-ray machine off?
Click to expand...

Not necessary. The bored TSA agent at the screen wouldn't have spotted the weapon anyway. She would be looking for bottles of liquid.
 
Ron Levy said:
On the ground, there's no percentage in rushing hijackers who claim to have a bomb (especially given the extreme unlikelihood of one getting past security) -- they ain't going to crash the plane if they're not in the air, and if there really is a bomb, it's too likely to go off if you rush them. Before that, the passengers didn't even know there was a hijacking in progress.
Click to expand...
I agree that once it's landed there's no point. But some of the reports (that I quoted above) appear to indicate that they did know there was a hijacking in progress while they were still in the air. At least some of them did!:rolleyes2:
 
gprellwitz said:
But how did the passengers know that it was going to land at its destination?
Click to expand...

Because there was no reason not to? Apparently the hijackers didn't spread the word.


Originally Posted by MSNBC:


"One of the passengers, Adriana Romero, told Mexican television she had not realized the flight had been hijacked until the plane landed at Mexico City. 'We realized it was a hijacking when we saw the police trucks,' she said."
 
It wasn't a "real" hijacking. Some irate passengers were tired of ground delays and said "Take us to our destination NOW or we'll blow up the plane!".
 
It doesn't seem like a particularly successful hijacking if some of the passengers weren't even aware of what was going on.
 
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hurKrE3xb7Gfc6iwUeTYJy5slHOgD9AKJUE81

AP said:
Jose Flores, 44, pulled out the device, which he later described as a "a juice can ... with some little lights I attached," as the airplane was approaching Mexico City Wednesday afternoon.
Click to expand...

Not an expert here, but presumably wouldn't a round container with wires and/or lights stand out on the x-ray? That x-ray has caught my folks with nail clippers and even a small can of pepper spray before.

AP said:
He said he had received divine revelation that an enormous earthquake would soon strike Mexico and that he hijacked the plane to force a meeting with President Felipe Calderon.
In Bolivia, Flores's mother said she was confident that divine justice would save her son from doom.
Click to expand...
Insanity plea?
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top