It was a chaotic weekend for air traffic in Mexico as a passenger attempted to hijack a plane and redirect it to the United States putting everyone aboard the Mexican airline Volaris flight 3041 on danger.
But according to testimonies from other passengers, a man identified as Jesús ended up paying homage to his biblical name and saved the day as he successfully subdued the hijacker and made him reconsider his actions, protecting the Volaris crew and other passengers inside the aircraft.
According to Mexican authorities, the incident took place before 7 A.M on Dec. 8. A flight heading to Tijuana from the state of Guanajuato was interrupted by a passenger who forcefully tried to divert the plane and land in San Diego instead.
The 31-yer-old man —who is yet to be identified— attempted to enter the cockpit of the plane and allegedly assaulted one of the flight attendants. One of the passengers said the hijacker put a pen against the flight attendant's neck and threatened to open the door and jump to his death, taking the crew member with him if the flight did not change course.
"He grabbed the handle and actually managed to crack the door open," Gerardo Gonzalez said. "There were people screaming, crying, pleading with the man not to do it."
But the heroics of Jesús were the ones that managed to put the situation under control.
"I talked to him calmly, reasoned with him, told him to think about his wife and children and the others," said Jesus. "His life had been threatened, that's why he wanted to land outside of Mexico."
According to official reports, the man was accompanied in the flight by his wife and his two children. He told the crew that a close relative of his had been kidnapped by criminal groups and was being held hostage. He believed his relative would be killed, and that he would as well if he traveled to Tijuana.
Authorities reported that the man claimed to have been receiving death threats and feared for his life, prompting him to hijack the plane and seek protection in the U.S.
After Jesús's confrontation, the man agreed to give up and allowed the flight to make an emergency landing in Guadalajara.
"Luckily, I was able to convince him," Jesus said to a group of reporters who interviewed him outside Tijuana's airport.
In a statement Volaris reported the crew followed "established security protocols" and safely rerouted the aircraft to Guadalajara, where the passenger was handed "over to the custody of the appropriate authorities."
After authorities removed the attacker, the plane continued its course to Tijuana as scheduled.
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