I'm not sure whether to put this here or the Religion board, but it's good for a chuckle either way.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jUMwYz1PA2vdULlqbzySPfUnFDNAPriest used juice cans to hijack Mexican planeBy Jennifer Gonzalez (AFP)
MEXICO CITY — A Protestant priest who hijacked a Mexican plane with 104 people aboard on a divine mission to save Mexico used three juice cans to convince crew members he had a bomb, he later told reporters.
Bible-carrying Jose Mar Flores Pereira, 44, also a singer and former drug addict, surrendered to authorities here Wednesday after hijacking the Aeromexico Boeing 737 on a flight from the popular tourist resort of Cancun to Mexico City.
All the passengers -- most of whom had no idea they had been taken hostage -- were safely evacuated as security forces swarmed Mexico's international airport within minutes of the plane landing.
The airline said it was originally alerted to the situation after it "received a bomb threat while in flight," according to a statement.
"It wasn't a bomb," a smiling Flores Pereira told reporters after his arrest. "It was three Jumex (juice) cans that I filled with sand and put some little colored lights on."Initial media reports that the hijacking involved multiple hijackers carrying explosives were later denied by Transport Secretary Juan Francisco Molinar Horcasitas, who said no explosives were found on the plane, only a fake bomb.
While Flores Pereira acted alone, Mexican officials said they originally detained five other people because the hijacker had told a flight attendants he was acting with accomplices, referring to himself and "God and the Holy Spirit."
Flores Pereira told authorities he acted to protect the country after having "a revelation that Mexico was facing a great danger, and was threatened by an earthquake," public security official Genaro Garcia Luna told reporters.
The priest, brought out for questioning by the media, told reporters his actions were linked to Wednesday's date -- September 9, 2009 -- because the numbers 9/9/9 were the opposite of 6/6/6 the numbers associated with the AntiChrist.
Flores Pereira had demanded to fly over the airport "seven times" and to speak with President Felipe Calderon, Garcia Luna said. Calderon canceled his afternoon meetings to head to the sprawling airport.
The alleged hijacker was also said to be a former prisoner and drug addict from Bolivia, who has lived in Mexico for 17 years.
Sources in La Paz confirmed Flores Pereira was of Bolivian nationality, and recounted that Mexican authorities had said he "apparently suffers some sort of mental disorder."
Pilot Carlos Corzo said when the plane already had landed "the first thing he did was show me some Bible verses; I tried really hard to gain his confidence."
"I told him that I am a believer, and that it is good to share the message, but that this was not the way to do it," Corzo told the daily Reforma online.
Thirty foreigners were among the passengers, according to diplomatic sources: 18 Americans, five Canadians, three French, three Bolivians, two Spaniards and a German.
"We only learned about it when we landed and we informed by the crew over the radio that we had been hijacked," said passenger Rodrigo Padilla. "Everything was very quiet, there were no guns, no shots were fired."
In less than an hour, the drama had been brought to an end.
Television images showed chaotic scenes as the passengers, most dressed in shorts and T-shirts, descended from the plane, some carrying young children and clutching bags.
They were briefly made to sit on the tarmac by security forces, before being led away. The last to leave the plane was the captain, who had negotiated the release of the passengers with a woman air controller.
It was the first time the airline had suffered a hijacking since 1972, when leftist guerrillas seized one of its planes demanding the release of some of their fellow rebels.
The last hijacking in the region was in April in Jamaica, when an armed man took over a CanJet Boeing 737 due to fly from Montego Bay to Cuba. All 182 people on board were rescued unharmed when Jamaican police stormed the plane.
-----
That reminds me...
