A Protestant priest who hijacked a Mexican plane mid-air with 104 people on board, triggering a brief airport drama, claimed he was on a divine mission, officials said.
Jose Mar Flores Pereira, 44, was said by Mexican officials to have hijacked the Aeromexico Boeing 737 after it left from the popular tourist resort of Cancun on a flight to the capital.
All the passengers — most of whom had no idea they had allegedly been taken hostage — were safely evacuated in Mexico City as security forces swarmed the capital’s international airport within minutes of the plane landing.
PHOTO: EPA
The airline said it was originally alerted to the situation after it “received a bomb threat while in flight,” according to a statement.
Initial media reports involving multiple hijackers carrying explosives were later denied by Mexican Transport Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas, who confirmed there was no bomb found on the plane.
While Flores Pereira acted alone, Mexican officials said they originally arrested five other people following the alleged hijacker’s indication he was acting with accomplices, referring to “himself [the Father], the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
After being taken into custody, Flores Pereira told authorities he had wanted to protect the country after he “had a revelation that Mexico was facing a great danger, and was threatened by an earthquake,” public security official Genaro Garcia Luna told reporters.
The priest, brought out for questioning by the media, told reporters his act was linked to Wednesday’s date — Sept. 9, 2009 — because the numbers 9/9/9 were the “opposite” of 6/6/6, the numbers associated with the Antichrist.
Flores Pereira had demanded to fly over the airport “seven times” and to speak with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, Garcia Luna said. Calderon canceled his afternoon meetings to head to the sprawling airport.
The alleged hijacker was also said to be a former prisoner and drug addict from Bolivia, who has lived in Mexico for 17 years.
Thirty foreigners were among the passengers, according to diplomatic sources: 18 Americans, five Canadians, three French, three Bolivians, two Spaniards and a German.
“We only learned about it when we landed and we informed by the crew over the radio that we had been hijacked,” passenger Rodrigo Padilla said. “Everything was very quiet, there were no guns, no shots were fired.”
In less than an hour, the drama had been brought to an end.
“We intervened in this crisis and all the passengers were taken to safety. The security forces are now carrying out the necessary investigations,” Horcasitas said.
The hijacker had been unable to enter the plane’s cockpit during the flight and did not compromise the aircraft’s safety, Horcasitas said.
The passengers were briefly made to sit on the tarmac by security forces, before being led away. The last to leave the plane was the captain, who had negotiated the release of the passengers with a woman air controller.
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