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Colombian plane carrying 25 hijacked

Posting this in Friendly Talkzone since it states that the hijakers did not appear to be related to any war faction.

Colombian plane carrying 25 hijacked
Two men with grenades seize airliner with congressman aboard
Monday, September 12, 2005; Posted: 3:27 p.m. EDT (19:27 GMT)
Authorities are in contact with hijackers who forced an airliner to land in Bogota.

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) -- A Colombian airliner with 25 people aboard, including a congressman, has been hijacked by two men with grenades, authorities said Monday.

The Aires airlines flight left the southern city of Florencia for a flight to Bogota Monday when the hijackers commandeered it, said Gen. Edgar Lesmez, the chief of the Colombian Air Force. The plane landed in Bogota, but at a military airfield next to the capital's civilian El Dorado Airport.

Authorities were in contact with the hijackers, Lesmez said. The twin-propeller plane was believed to be carrying 20 passengers and five crew. The hostages include congressman Antonio Serrano, his assistant, Consuelo Barragan, told RCN television.

"We're beginning our initial contacts with these hijackers to see if there is a solution," Lesmez said.

The hijackers said they wanted to speak with a representative of a human rights organization, a priest and a delegate from the Colombian attorney general's office, Lesmez told reporters.

The hijackers, who used the plane's radio to contact the air traffic control tower, did not make any immediate demands, said Martin Gonzalez, spokesman for Colombia's civil aviation authority.

Gen. Alberto Ruiz, chief of operations of the Colombian National Police, said the hijackers did not appear to belong to any of Colombia's illegal armed groups.

"They seem to be common citizens," Ruiz told journalists.

Calls to the airline and to the civil aviation authority went unanswered.

This was the second time an Aires flight from Florencia to Bogota has been hijacked.

In February 2002, members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, forced an Aires airliner to land on a rural highway and kidnapped a Colombian senator on board. (Full story)

Sen. Jorge Gechen Turbay, president of the Senate's peace commission, remains a FARC hostage. The other passengers and the crew were left on the plane.

The hijacking led the government to cancel peace talks with the FARC, which has been waging war in this Andean nation for four decades.

By toneloc24 on Sep 12, 2005, 12:39 in Friendly Talkzone.

Lucia Rojas says on Sep 12, 2005, 21:30:

it was a handicapped guy and his son who was asking the goverment to pay him an indemnization for his disability... ( They didn`t say how he got it)

Incredible no?

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Tinto (Moderator) says on Sep 13, 2005, 11:32:

The maxim that most criminals are pretty stupid is proven once again. The guy has a grievance with the govt, hijacks a plane and now he and his son are likely to spend up to 40 years in prison (equivalent to a life sentence for the father who is 40+).

Desperate or not, legitimate grievance or not, what happened to chaining oneself to city hall and calling the TV stations for publicity...?

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Mr. Hollywood says on Sep 13, 2005, 13:30:

Great security Today's news stories say that the guy was able to board the plane with grenades because his wheelchair didn't fit through the metal detector so they just waved him through. This in a country with a half-dozen armed groups running around causing trouble.

Nice security!

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quindioman says on Sep 13, 2005, 14:08:

i dunno but me and my mum both felt sorry for the poor bastard.
Another example of a fuct up government.....they didn't apply the law to compensate him...but they'll apply the law to incarcerate him.....oh dear

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juancegomez says on Sep 13, 2005, 14:14:

Different authorities have to deal with compensation and punishment as they are different issues, you know...might want to reflect on that for a bit.

Perhaps the main good thing about this is that, hopefully, future flight handlers and airport security officials may not allow such handicapped criminals (for, though his crime is semi-undestandable, it is still a crime) to get away with evading the necessary searches and inspections again, at least not as easily.

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quindioman says on Sep 13, 2005, 14:16:

i guess the authorities that had to compensate him were on holiday for the x amount of years he had to wait.

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