Hijacking of Aeromexico flight from Cancun ends peacefully at Mexico City airport

All passengers are safe and suspects are in custody following a hijacking and bomb threat aboard Aeromexico flight 576 from Cancun to Mexico City.

The flight, carrying 104 passengers (including several Americans), was hijacked at approximately 1:30pm as several men sitting in the front section of the plane displayed a cardboard box they claimed was a bomb. The men threatened to blow up the plane and demanded to speak to Mexico President Felipe Calderón.

The suspects asked the pilot to circle the airport seven times to give them time to talk to the president on the phone, but the pilot informed them that it would not be possible because there was not enough fuel on the plane.

The plane landed on an isolated runway at the Mexico City Airport and remained on the tarmac as police and military personnel gathered at the scene. Less than 45 minutes later, passengers were seen safely leaving the aircraft. Heavily armed security forces stormed the plane and detained eight suspects, who were quickly loaded onto a military Blackhawk helicopter and flown from the scene.

Military officials seized the brown box and detonated it on the runway. No explosives were found. Within an hour of the incident, all flights were operating normally and no effect was expected on travel to or from the region.