Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2025. 4:59 pm CST.
By Aaron Humes: During the high-sky hijacking of a Tropic Air flight on Holy Thursday, pilot Howell Grange’s ruse of communicating with air traffic controller in Spanish to convince the hijacker he was taking him to the US bought significant time to get the plane down safely, the Deputy Director of Civil Aviation Stanley Gideon told the press on Wednesday afternoon.
Grange communicated solely in Spanish to fool Akinyela Taylor into thinking the Cessna was flying through Mexico, en route to an airfield in Missouri.
While a first landing attempt was unsuccessful when the hijacker interceded, Grange kept the flight in the air and circling airspace and then got a controller to mimic an American voice to allow a landing, whereupon security forces took over. The dramatic incident ended with Grange being stabbed when Taylor realized he had been duped. Another passenger armed finally neutralized Taylor with a licensed firearm during the unprecedented incident.
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The post Civil Aviation says pilot Howell Grange’s plan bought crucial time during Tropic Air hijacking appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
Posted: Wednesday, April 30, 2025. 4:59 pm CST. By Aaron Humes: During the high-sky hijacking of a Tropic Air flight on Holy Thursday, pilot Howell Grange’s
The post Civil Aviation says pilot Howell Grange’s plan bought crucial time during Tropic Air hijacking appeared first on Belize News and Opinion on www.breakingbelizenews.com.
