Passenger who tried to force Mexican plane to fly to US said he was under threat by criminals

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This article was published 09/12/2024 (317 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A passenger on a domestic flight in Mexico who tried to divert an aircraft to the United States by force said that he was under threat by criminals who had kidnapped one of his relatives, authorities said.

Mexico’s Public Safety Department said late Sunday the man had been detained by National Guard officers in the western city of Guadalajara, where the flight was diverted following the incident.

Videos posted on social media showed other passengers subduing the man on a Volaris airline flight Sunday from the central city of Leon, in Guanajuato state, to the border city of Tijuana.

“Airline personnel said the aggressor said a close relative of his had been kidnapped, and at the moment the flight lifted off from Leon, he had received a death threat if he traveled to Tijuana,” the department said in a statement.

Guanajuato state has long been dominated by warring drug cartels, and has the highest number of homicides of any state in Mexico.

But that wasn’t all. The federal Attorney General’s office said the man tried to break into the airline’s cockpit, to force the pilots to land in U.S. territory.

Once he was in National Guard custody, he tried to grab one of the guard officer’s guns, causing the vehicle he was being transported in to crash, injuring him and the officers. The suspect is being treated for his injuries at a hospital.

Videos appeared to show the man lunging toward one of the doors on the plane, in what may have been an attempt to open it mid-flight, before other passengers wrestled him and subdued him.

Officials gave only the man’s first name and age, 31, and said the other passengers continued on to Tijuana.

The Attorney General’s office said the man would face charges, including making threats and an attack on transportation.

Volaris airlines said in a statement on X that the crew managed to detain him, and all those aboard the flight were safe. Volaris said it has become a plaintiff to ensure that the passenger faces the full weight of the law.

Attempts to divert or hijack planes have been extremely rare in Mexico. In 2009, a Bolivian religious fanatic briefly hijacked a jetliner from the beach resort of Cancun as it landed in Mexico City. All passengers and the crew were released unharmed.

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