39-year-old Shaheer Cassim from Calgary is accused of attempting to hijack a scheduled flight from Victoria International Airport. The FBI is investigating the incident that occurred Tuesday when Cassim threatened a flight instructor and commandeered a Cessna 172 airplane. Yet his irresponsible actions caused enormous disruptions with at least nine other planes having to be diverted from one of Canada’s busiest airspaces.
Cassim in the dock on Wednesday, where he made a brief appearance on a single count of hijacking. After stealing the plane, he piloted it north toward Vancouver International Airport. This move brought out serious fears from air traffic controllers of imminent collisions. “There is some type of protest going on above the airport with a Cessna,” reported an air traffic controller during the incident.
As Cassim made circles the runways at Vancouver International Airport, controllers had to repeatedly warn other aircraft in the area to watch out. His actions were determined to have an “ideological motive to disrupt airspace,” said police spokesperson Sgt. Cassim’s erratic flying raised concerns that he was going to fly into another aircraft, causing multiple departure delays and cancellation of up to 17 flights.
In a Facebook post prior to the hijacking, Cassim claimed, “I am a messenger of Allah. I am the messiah sent to save humanity from climate change and usher in an era of world peace.” He expressed his views on environmental issues, stating that “the Arctic sea ice is going to disappear within two years,” warning of serious consequences for global warming.
Colin Williamson, owner of the flight school where the incident started, said he couldn’t believe it. We’ve never seen anyone break a wing tip on another aircraft like this, sort of like a fender bender in the air. This is totally out of the blue, unprecedented,” he said.
To the surprise of many, law enforcement officials arrested Cassim in the aftermath of the incident. He has been directed to stay in jail until his next court appearance on July 22. At the moment he has no attorney of record.
