2007 Air Mauritanie hijacking

2007 Air Mauritanie hijacking

Hijacking summary
Date	February 15, 2007 (2007-02-15)
Type	Hijacking
Site	Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain
Passengers	71
Crew	8
Injuries	21
Fatalities	0
Survivors	79 (all)
Aircraft type	Boeing 737
Operator	Air Mauritanie

On February 15, 2007, a Boeing 737-700 on a flight from Nouakchott to Las Palmas in the Spanish Canary Islands (with a stopover in Nouadhibou) was hijacked by Mohamed Abderraman, a 32-year-old man brandishing two pistols (a 9mm and .22 semi-automatic) and allegedly seeking political asylum in France. Spain has identified him as a Mauritanian, while Mauritania says that he is a Moroccan from the Western Sahara^[1] The aircraft had 71 passengers and 8 crew.^[2]

While explaining to Abderraman that the plane did not have enough fuel to reach France, the captain, Ahmedou Mohamed Lemine, discovered Abderraman did not speak French. When the Moroccan government denied the plane's request to land and refuel at Dakhla in the Western Sahara, the pilot decided to continue on to Las Palmas as planned. Afterwards the captain spoke to the first officer Satvinder Virk who was travelling as safety pilot in French, warning him that upon landing he was going to brake hard, to throw the hijacker off balance and give the crew a chance to overpower him. On landing, the captain did so, and the hijacker fell to the floor, dropping one of his pistols. First officer Virk and steward Thiam (entering first and immobilising the hijacker) poured boiling water from the coffee machine on him and beat him until they considered him sufficiently subdued. The hijacker was tied with life-jacket straps and handed over to the Guardia Civil.^[3] About twenty passengers were slightly injured when evacuating from the port aft escape slide.^[1]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} The Associated Press. (2007). "Fast-Thinking Pilot Fools Hijacker". MSNBC.com. Retrieved February 17, 2007.
2. ^ Reuters AlertNet - Air Mauritania hijack ends, suspect arrested-radio
3. ^ BBC NEWS | Africa | Mauritania pilot outwits hijacker