Passenger attempts to hijack Mexican flight, divert to US, airline says

A passenger attempted to hijack a domestic Mexican flight Sunday morning and forcibly divert it to the United States, according to the airline Volaris.

The suspect, identified by Mexican authorities only as a 31-year-old Mexican national named Mario, assaulted a flight attendant and tried to enter the cockpit to divert the flight to the United States, according to the Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection.

The flight was routed from El Bajio airport in Leon and was headed to Tijuana.

The crew restrained the suspect while the pilot issued an alert code and landed at the International Airport of Guadalajara in central Mexico.

The suspect was handed over to authorities upon landing. It was not immediately clear if the suspect was armed.

Airline personnel said that the suspect told them that a close family member had been kidnapped and that when he took off from El Bajio, he received a death threat saying not to travel to Tijuana, according to the SSPC. The suspect was traveling with his wife and two children.

"All passengers, crew and aircraft are safe," the airline said. "Volaris regrets the inconvenience this situation has caused. For Volaris, the safety of our passengers and crew is a top priority."

The crew and other passengers continued their flight to Tijuana with no further incidents reported.

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