Mexico, Mexico (AP) – An American man diverted a small plane in Belize on Thursday, stabbing two passengers and a pilot, before one of the stabbed passengers killed him, officials in Belize and the United States. The plane then landed safely.
The tropical airplane carried 14 passengers and two crew members, and stole from Corozal, a small town near the Belize border with Mexico, heading for the popular tourist destination of San Pedro when it was diverted.
The plane turned in random directions for almost two hours while the drama took place in the sky. The plane was reduced by a police helicopter before being at an airport in the coastal city of Ladyville.
The Belize authorities declared a complete emergency immediately after the start of the incident, around 8:30 a.m., the local time, according to a statement 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 the airline.
The two wounded passengers and pilots were treated in a hospital for their injuries, officials said.
The hijacking of a plane in Belize ends with hero passenger pulling on the American air pirate while the plane does not lack fuel against the landing police commissioner. pic.twitter.com/yjilwwgcus
– Belize.com (@belizean) April 17, 2025
The spokesman for the US State Department Tammy Bruce, said in a briefing in Washington that the managers always collected information on what had happened.
“Horrible,” she said. “We are grateful, I think we are all, that it has not transformed into a mass event with, I believe, more than a dozen people on the plane. Obviously, we only know a few details. We do not know more. ”
Chester Williams, a Belize police commissioner, identified the air pirate like Akinyela Taylor and said he was an American military veteran. US officials were unable to confirm the declaration of the Belize police commissioner that Taylor was a military veteran.
One of the stabbed passengers managed to shoot Taylor, who was killed, said Williams, adding that the passenger was authorized to carry a gun and then returned his weapon to the police. The passenger was stabbed behind his back and suffered an injury to the lungs, said Williams. It remains in critical condition.
“We pray for him,” Williams told journalists. “It’s our hero.”
A Tropic Air official, who spoke under the cover of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to journalists, identified the injured crew member like Howell Grange. He identified the two injured passengers, one of whom shot the air pirate, such as Fitzgerald Brown and Jair Castañeda. Their nationalities were not immediately known.
Williams said Taylor asked to get out of the country, perhaps in Mexico, and at some point, that the plane attracts more fuel.
The spokesman for the United States Embassy in Belize Luke Martin said Taylor also insisted that he was taken to the United States.
“We don’t know why he wanted to return to the United States,” said Martin.
US officials said they did not know the reason for Taylor’s diversion, but worked with the Belizées authorities to determine what happened.
