Posted on 02/16/2007 2:30:16 PM PST by protest1
This is your captain. Get ready to jump on the hijacker when we land
Confronted by a lone gunman in the cockpit of his airliner, Captain Ahmedou Lemine's thoughts immediately turned to the horror of 9/11.
He recalled how the heroic folk on Flight 93 prevented two hijackers crashing their plane into the White House � and determined to enlist the help of his own passengers.
Having established that the gunman did not speak French, unlike most of those on board the Air Mauritania flight, he made an announcement in French over the public address system.
He told the 71 passengers and eight crew that the plane had been hijacked but advised them not to panic because he had a plan.
Then, shortly before landing at Gran Canaria, with the gunman having joined the passengers in the main cabin, he revealed that he planned to brake suddenly as soon as he touched down and then accelerate hard, hoping to knock the hijacker off his feet.
At that point, he said, women and children should move to the back of the plane while the men jumped on the gunman.
It worked perfectly. The man was standing in the middle aisle when the pilot carried out his manoeuvre, and he fell to the floor, dropping one of his two 7mm pistols.
Flight attendants then threw boiling water from a coffee machine in his face and at his chest, and ten people jumped on the man and beat him.
About 20 of those on board were slightly injured when the plane braked suddenly, but otherwise everyone on board emerged unscathed while the hijacker was arrested. Mauritania, in West Africa, is a former French colony and while the official language is Arabic, most have some knowledge of French.
The 32-year-old gunman, Mohamed Abderraman, struck soon after the Boeing 737 took off from the capital Nouakchott bound for the Canaries on Thursday.
Although he wanted to seek political asylum in France, the crew told him there was not enough fuel for the journey so he agreed to land in Gran Canaria as planned.
On September 11, 2001, all those on board United Airlines Flight 93 were killed when the plane crashed in Pennsylvania after passengers tackled the terrorists.
It was the fourth jet to be hijacked that day and the ordeal of the passengers and crew became the subject of the award-winning film, Flight 93.
Passengers on board the Air Mauritania jet said that despite the captain's calmness, they were terrified.
"We thought it was people from Al Qaeda who were going to cut our throats,� said Aicha Mint Sidi, 45.
Dahi Ould Ali, 52, added: "I trembled during and after the hijacking. I thought the plane was going to blow up any minute, either in mid-air or on landing."
Flight attendants then threw boiling water from a coffee machine in his face and at his chest, and ten people jumped on the man and beat him.
Now that's the way to deal with hijackers!
"Flight attendants then threw boiling water from a coffee machine in his face and at his chest"
It's the brad hamilton method for dealing with armed robbers and hijackers.
"alright hamilton!"
Sucessful hijackings are past. Now that pilots and passengers refused to allow it.
Note to the IDIOTS at TSA (er, democrats running our airplane security):
The pilot did NOT have a weapon on board, but the hijacker DID....
Of course, this appears to be just another Muslim hijacker, but that's not an indictment of the ROP.
They will never get another plane...these were people from a third world country who realized...it was them or the hijacker.
I didn't know there was a French word for "fight."
The Cut&RunoCrats would have run into the back with the rest of the women and children!
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
7mm pistol? Tokarov?
They set the standard.
You silly air traveler, Jon Carry says the threat of terrorism is exaggerated.
Not quite; he survived.
:^(
Kudos to the pilot. This was absolutely brilliant.
Kudos to the passengers for keeping the whole thing a secret until it was time to pounce...and then pouncing.
"About 20 of those on board were slightly injured when the plane braked suddenly"
Question for any pilots out there:
I didn't know sudden braking can quickly deccelerate planes upon landing, I thought they had to gradually slow down. So planes can land and stop on short runways if necessary?
COOL rack itttt LMAO
"The 32-year-old gunman, Mohamed Abderraman ...."
There's that name/age profile again. But let's keep frisking little old ladies in wheelchairs.
They set the standard.
The heroes of Flight 93 continue to save lives.
A few weeks ago, two elderly women of Scandinavian descent were given a rough time by security guards.
You don't say. I think that's the first I've seen name and age. Looks like an Amish name to me.
Yes and he had two.
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