On Friday, an American citizen diverted an internal flight in Belize, stabbing two passengers and the pilot in an attack in the air.
One of the victims who, despite critical injuries, managed to fatally shoot the striker in mid-vol, confirmed the officials of Belize and the United States.
The plane finally landed safely, avoiding what the authorities said could have been a mass event.
THE Tropic air The flight, carrying 14 passengers and two crew members, left Corozal, a small town near the northern border of Belize with Mexico, and was on the way to the popular tourist destination of San Pedro when the diversion occurred, Nyt reported.
The plane diverted and flew away irregularly for almost two hours before finally landing in the coastal city of Ladyville, escorted by a police helicopter.
The authorities said that the complete emergency had been declared shortly after the start of the incident, around 8:30 am, the local time, according to a press release from the Belize airport concession company.
“Faced with incomprehensible pressure, our pilot acted with extraordinary courage and calm, guiding the plane to a safe landing. His actions were simply heroic,” said Maximillian Greif, CEO of Tropic Air.
The pilot and the two stabbed passengers were transported to the hospital. Their injuries were described as serious but survivable, with one of the passengers in critical condition.
Who was the air pirate?
Belize police commissioner, Chester Williams, identified the air pirate like Akinyela Sawa Taylor, an American citizen whom he described as a military veteran. US officials said they couldn’t confirm the status of Taylor veterans.
According to Williams, Taylor demanded that the plane divert the course, sometimes asking to be aircraft in Mexico and insisting at some point that the plane was full. During the struggle, he stabbed the pilot and two passengers. One of the passengers, Fitzgerald Brown, managed to remove a firearm despite having been stabbed in the back and suffer from a perforated lung. Brown fired and killed Taylor inside the plane. He then gave the weapon to the authorities.
“We pray for him,” Williams told journalists. “It’s our hero.”
The other injured passenger was identified as Jair Castañeda, and the pilot injured like Howell Grange, according to a tropic air manager who spoke under the cover of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the media. The nationalities of Brown and Castañeda have not yet been released.
During a press briefing in Washington, the spokesman for the American State Department, Tammy Bruce, described the diversion as “horrible” and praised passengers and the crew.
“We are grateful, I think we are all, that it has not transformed into a mass event with I believe that more than a dozen people on the plane,” said Bruce. “Obviously, we know some details. We don’t know much more. ”
Luke Martin, spokesperson for the United States Embassy in Belize, confirmed that Taylor had demanded to be brought back to the United States during the event. “We don’t know why he wanted to return to the United States,” said Martin.
The authorities of the two countries have declared that the reason for the diversion of its diversion remains uncertain and that investigations are underway.
