Passenger tries to hijack and divert Volaris plane

César Arellano and Iván Evair Saldaña

La Jornada Newspaper
Monday, December 9, 2024, p. 3

A passenger tried, through the use of forcedivert a Volaris plane that covered the León-Tijuana route to the United States. The company reported that the crew acted in accordance with established security procedures and, in accordance with protocol, flight 3041 was sent to the Guadalajara airport, where the airline placed the passenger at the disposal and custody of the competent authorities.

He noted that all travelers, crew and aircraft were found safe and that the rest of the passengers were protected to continue their flight to their final destination in Baja California.

The airline added that it has formed itself as a prosecuting party to ensure that the person responsible faces the full weight of the law, to its ultimate consequences. He regretted the inconvenience that this situation caused and reaffirmed that for Volaris the safety of its passengers and crews is the highest priority.

In a video that circulates on social networks, it is observed when several people talk and subdue the traveler who committed the crime.

According to the Mexican government’s security cabinet, the man who forcibly attempted to divert the plane alleged that he received a death threat not to land at the scheduled destination.

According to a statement, testimonies from airline personnel indicated that the aggressor, identified as Mario N31 years old and of Mexican nationality, He told them (to the crew) that a close relative had been kidnapped and when taking off from León he received a death threat if he traveled to Tijuana. The subject was traveling with his wife and two minor children..

The same airline personnel stated that after the aircraft took off from León, Guanajuato, and was destined for Tijuana, Baja California, Mario N He attacked a flight attendant and tried to enter the cockpit to divert the flight to the United States.

The crew, upon noticing this behavior, subdued the aggressor in accordance with established safety protocols; Meanwhile, the pilot of the aircraft issued the alert code and they landed at the Guadalajara International Airport, Jalisco, where National Guard personnel were already waiting for them.it was explained.

Once the aircraft landed in Guadalajara, elements of the National Guard detained Mario Nthey informed him of his constitutional rights and made him available to the agent of the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), who will define his legal situation and integrate the investigation folder of the case.

It was also reported that the crew and other passengers continued their flight to Tijuana, without any other incident being reported.

The Federal Penal Code states that a prison sentence of 15 to 40 years and a fine of 400 to 1,200 times the daily value of the unit of measurement and updating will be imposed, without prejudice to the penalties that apply for other crimes that result. …who intentionally carries out acts against goods or services, whether public or private, or against the physical or emotional integrity or life of people, which cause alarm, fear or terror in the population or in a group or sector of it, to attack national security or put pressure on the authority or an individual, or force them to make a determination.