Posted on 02/16/2007 8:34:21 AM PST by Sax
The pilot of a hijacked Air Mauritania plane deliberately made a rough landing so passengers and crew could tackle the gunman, Spanish officials say. He tipped off passengers about the plan after realising the hijacker spoke no French, one official told AP agency.
The hijacker was overpowered after being knocked over as planned during the landing in Spain's Canary Islands.
Mauritanian police are investigating how the hijacker boarded the Boeing 737 with two loaded handguns.
'Boiling water'
The gunman seized the jet soon after take-off from the capital, Nouakchott, and demanded to be flown to France to seek asylum, officials say.
One report said a gun was held to the pilot's head during the hijack.
But as the pilot approached Gando military base near Las Palmas international airport, he used the plane's intercom system to tell passengers in French of his plan, said AP quoting a Spanish official.
"The pilot and his colleagues decided to abruptly apply brakes on landing to throw off-balance the hijacker, who was hurled to the floor by the jerk and was quickly overpowered before being handed over to the Spanish police force," a Mauritanian official told AFP news agency.
One report said flight attendants threw boiling water at him and around 10 people overpowered him.
The pilot, named by Air Mauritania as Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, had urged crew members and men to sit in the front rows, ready to act, while women and children were warned to move to the rear, AP said.
Spanish officials say the lone hijacker was a 32-year-old Mauritanian, but Mauritania disputes this.
Seventy-one passengers - mostly Spaniards and Mauritanians - and eight crew were on the plane, reports from Spain said.
Twenty-one passengers were injured in the incident, including a pregnant woman who was treated for severe shock.
Homecoming
The jet returned home on Friday and the crew members were given a heroes' welcome.
Mauritania's President Ely Ould Mohamed Vall also returned home on Friday following the incident. He had been expected to stay at a summit in the south of France until Saturday.
The hijacked plane took off from the north-west African nation in the late afternoon on Thursday.
It tried to land at Dakhla, in Western Sahara, but Moroccan authorities refused permission, security officials said.
The plane was due to stop over in the northern Mauritanian port of Nouadhibou, before continuing to Gran Canaria, in Spain's Canary Islands.
In 1998 an armed hijacker commandeered an Air Mauritania jet, demanding to take it to Morocco.
He also was overpowered by the pilot and there were no casualties in the incident.
More than one way to skin a cat.
Make him serve his sentence strapped into a United coach seat for five hours at a time.
If that was done pre-9/11, in most major countries, that might be considered cruel and unusual punishment. I know it would have been here.
Stupid PC rules *shakes fist*
Yup. And the dogs always love to watch.
Well played.
I think it's really interesting that the old "conventional wisdom" of just going along with hijackers (or muggers for that matter) has turned out to be entirely wrong.
When every planeload of passengers can be counted on to react violently to a hijack attempt, pretty soon hijacking becomes more trouble than it is worth. Hijackers need a certain assurance that they can actually take control, and when that probability gets lower and lower... they won't bother.
I think the same thing works with street thugs looking for the easy mark. Or burglars. Same psychology.
(((.)))
Now that is just cruel! LOL
I love a happy ending, but too bad they didn't accidently kill him when they took him down with the hot water and the abrupt landing. The instant death of a few of these cretins would discourage such activity.
I'm amazed that French speaking people knew how or were willing to subdue anyone!
flight attendants threw boiling water at him
/
VERY impressive. To concoct a plan like that in a very short time frame under extreme pressure, involving multiple groups of people and a lot of unpredictable variables, and the execute it so flawlessly, is really awesome.
There really ought to be a high profile "Let's Roll!" award for people who do stuff like this (the pilot, and all the passengers and crew who caught on quickly and helped implement the plan).
FYI followup
I've always wondered why the airlines would not use "Vomit Comet" manuevers to incapacitate a thug in the cabin. Basically, you pin the guy to the ceiling, then the floor, then the ceiling and repeat until he is either dead or unconcious. Yes, some passingers might also be hurt in the process, but at least you wouldn't loose all souls on board.
What's with these Mormons anyway?
When every planeload of passengers can be counted on to react violently to a hijack attempt, pretty soon hijacking becomes more trouble than it is worth.
Whoa, hold on there, cowboy! You're talking like it might be incumbent upon a person to take responsibility for their own safety! Any "enlightened" person knows we've outsourced this to "the authorities" (you sound like one of them "gun nuts").
That's the great thing about a modern, progressive society, we've put all adult responsibility on the state, and we can just stand around like sheep (or infants), so long as a Rambo type like you (or Todd Beamer) doesn't do anything irresponsible.
Owl_Eagle
If what I just wrote made you sad or angry,
it was probably just a joke.
Not to take anything away from their acts of bravery, but am I the only one who had to laugh a little when I read that a pilot named Mohamed combined forces with Francophones to defeat a hijacking?
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