A 31-year-old man, Kel Mario N, was arrested on Sunday afternoon after attempting to hijack a domestic flight in Mexico while en route to the United States, authorities reported.
The Airbus A320, which departed from Leon, Guanajuato, at 7:17 am, was headed for Tijuana when it was forced to make an emergency landing at Guadalajara International Airport about 45 minutes into the flight.
According to a statement from the Secretariat of Security and Civilian Protection, the man assaulted a flight attendant and tried to enter the cockpit in an attempt to redirect the flight.
The crew managed to restrain the passenger, who was reportedly traveling with family and issued an emergency alert for the diversion.
The flight operator, Volaris, later revealed that the suspect claimed his close relative had been kidnapped and threatened with death if he continued to Tijuana.
Authorities did not provide details on the number of passengers aboard the flight. Following the emergency landing and the man’s arrest, the flight continued to its intended destination in Tijuana.
The incident occurred in Guanajuato, a state notorious for violence linked to drug cartels, including extortion and kidnapping activities.
