After the shocking attempt to divert a domestic plane in Belize, the police identified the 49 -year -old American citizen, Akinyela Sawa Taylor, as the man behind the attack. Taylor pulled a knife shortly after takeoff and made a wave of stabs, injuring three people, including a pilot. The man, who would be a military veteran, was killed by an injured passenger before he kept safe
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An inner flight in the United States of Belize turned into a panic scene on Thursday, when an American passenger tried to divert the plane in the air.
The man, later identified as Akinyela Sawa Taylor, pulled a knife shortly after takeoff and had a cinnamon, injuring several people, including a pilot. But before the situation could slip further, another injured passenger, who was legally armed, intervened and fatally killed the 49 -year -old striker.
The plane finally landed safely, avoiding what the authorities said could have been a mass event. Investigations are now underway to understand who Taylor was, how he managed to get on the flight with a weapon and what motivated the violent explosion.
Here is what we know so far.
Outdoor horror
The terrifying incident started shortly after a small tropic air flight took off from Corozal, heading for the island city of San Pedro, with 14 passengers and two crew members on board.
The police said they learned that the flight had been diverted by one of the passengers shortly after takeoff. According to PeopleThe man released a knife halfway and stabbed the pilot, Howell Grange, as well as two passengers – Fitzgerald Brown and Jair Castañeda.
The attacker would then have demanded that the pilot are stealing on the plane outside the country. But before he could take full control, one of the injured passengers, who was legally armed, managed to shoot him during the flight.
US Citizen diverts the plane in Belize with 14 people on board
Threatening the passengers with a knife and stabbing 3 shortly before takeoff, he demanded more fuel for the plane and getting out of the country
He was killed and would have killed by a passenger with a pistol pic.twitter.com/7ql0gngld0– News news (@ phamduyhien9) April 17, 2025
The officials confirmed that the suspect had been shot in the chest by the passenger, although he is still not clear exactly how the confrontation took place inside the plane.
The plane, now off -road and flying irregularly, stayed in the air for almost two hours before making an emergency landing in the coastal city of Ladyville. A police helicopter escorted the plane as the track approaches. He was also almost out of fuel.
A man brandishing knives would have tried to divert a tropicair flight in Belize this morning. The flight was encountered by a large emergency intervention during landing in Belize City. We closely follow this story for updates. https://t.co/c2dbdxr0c9 pic.twitter.com/cgjpwgkazv
– Flightradar24 (@ flightradar24) April 17, 2025
The authorities said that a complete emergency had been declared around 8:30 am local time, shortly after the start of the attack. The Belize airport concession company confirmed the calendar in an official declaration.
“All thefts were temporarily anchored and the staff was extremely shaken. We have never experienced anything like it,” said a source from the airport Breaking Belize News.
Witnesses said they saw the injured attacker, with blood on the face, while the police surrounded the plane at landing.
The pilot and the two injured passengers were taken to the hospital and should recover. Taylor was also transported for medical treatment but was declared dead on his arrival, according to Newsweek.
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
In a statement published Thursday, CEO of Tropic Air Belize, Maximillian Greif, praised the pilot’s bravery during the crisis.
“Our pilots are undergoing rigorous training to respond effectively and effectively to any situation, and today we stop to recognize the bravery, the skills and the leadership that brought our plane to the house in complete safety,” said Greif, calling the actions of the pilot “nothing less than the heroic”.
Who was Akinyela Sawa Taylor?
The air pirate, Akinyela Sawa Taylor, was an American citizen and considered a military veteran, according to Reutersquoting police officers.
The information published by the airport said Taylor was a teacher in the United States. Online records have shown that he had been a football coach at McCluer North High School in Floridant, Missouri. However, when contacted by ReutersAn employee of the school confirmed that Taylor was no longer an employee there.
Police revealed that Taylor had been denied entry into Belize a few days earlier, which prompted the questions about how he had managed to reintegrate the country. Officials have now contacted the United States Embassy to get aid in the current investigation.
The authorities have also noted that it is always difficult to know how Taylor was able to board the flight with a knife, stressing that the small regional exits in Belize often do not have the safety infrastructure to perform full passenger projections.
Belize police commissioner, Chester Williams, said at a press conference that the event would be examined closely in the next national security discussions.
“This is something that will be discussed intensively at the next meeting of the National Security Council,” he said, as indicated by ABC NewsAdding that the pilot did “exceptional work” managing the crisis.
The spokesman for the US State Department Tammy Bruce addressed the situation during a press briefing, saying that the agency was actively monitoring the developments.
“We are grateful – I think we are all – that it has not transformed into a mass event with it, I believe, more than a dozen people on the plane,” said Bruce.
With the contribution of agencies
