Plane jacking now being reported on CNN...

[originalpckelly]

"An Air Mauritania Boeing 737 passenger plane hijacked on an internal flight has flown to the Spanish Canary Islands after stopping for fuel in the Western Sahara, Mauritanian officials said.

'It has gone to the Canaries,' a source close to the presidency told Reuters. The head of the Mauritanian state news agency said the plane had already touched down.

Earlier, a police officer at Nouakchott airport told Reuters the plane had been hijacked on a flight to the northern port town of Nouadhibou and had flown instead to Dakhla in Western Sahara to take on fuel.

'There was at least one armed person on board. We don't know his identity,' the state news agency chief, Moussa Hamed, said."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/02/15/plane.hijack.reut/index.html

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

1. Who wants to place bets...

that it was some unruly passenger who had too much to drink?

[originalpckelly]

2. No, it looks like it was an authentic jacking...

they said people were armed.

[Art_from_Ark]

33. Somehow I have the impression that the state airline

of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania doesn't serve booze on its domestic flights.

[Warren DeMontague]

3. Air Marijuana?

I'm sorry, someone had to say it.

[originalpckelly]

5. Talk about getting high.

:spank:

[zulchzulu]

4. Bomb Mauritania now!

Islamic Republic of Mauritania
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauritania

Kidding...

Wow..read their national anthem (translated from Arabic):

Be a helper for God, and censure what is forbidden,
And turn with the law which, which He wants you to follow,
Hold no one to be useful or harmful, except for Him,
And walk the path of the chosen one, and die while you are on it!
For what was sufficient for the first of us, is sufficient for the last one, too.
And leave those people who do evil things with respect to God.
They misrepresented him by making him similar, and made all kinds of excuses.
They made bold claims, and blackened notebooks.
They let the nomads and the sedentary people, both make bitter experiences,
And the great sins of their innovations bequeathed small.
And just in case a disputant, calls you to dispute about their claims,
Do not, then, dispute on them, except by way of an external dispute.


Listen to Baaba Maal (from there):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B00005A7PH001001/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_001/102-9559433-2036116

http://www.amazon.com/gp/music/wma-pop-up/B00005A7PH001009/ref=mu_sam_wma_001_009/102-9559433-2036116

[originalpckelly]

6. I refuse to send anyone any cakes.

They just don't do well in the mail.

[jobycom]

8. Heck no! Let's bomb Venezuela. Terrorism, you know. Members of al-Qaeda

had a book about Venezuela in their possession when we arrested them... um, somewhere or another.

[zulchzulu]

14. OK...them tooo....who else? Let's go!!!!!

How about Chad? That's some surfer dude's name...obviously they are hidin' somethin'! (insert Chimpy laugh here)

[KansDem]

15. Depends. Do they have oil and no weapons of mass destruction?

Yeah?...then they're ripe for the pickins'!!!

Start "shock and awe" immediately!

[zulchzulu]

19. Oil was discovered off the coast in 2001

http://www.offshore-technology.com/projects/Chinguetti/

Sounds like they might be "evildoers"....

[redqueen]

7. I wonder why they wanted to go to Paris.

Weird...

[MADem]

10. To crash into a cultural icon, like the Eiffel Tower of Arch of Triumph? NT

[redqueen]

11. Perhaps...

Seems like it'd be completely counterproductive, but who knows?

[MADem]

22. Everyone forgets the riots. There's still a lot of tension between the

old school French and the young Muslims, the first and second generations following the influx of immigrants.

[redqueen]

25. Oh I haven't...

that's exactly what I was referring to when I said it would be counterproductive.

Such a thing would certainly not make life easier for Muslims in France.

[MADem]

You're one of the few that didn't see the US hand on this.

My first thought was the local situation, not Dumb George or Big Dick...

[flyarm]

13. ohh my ..i will be lunching in the Eiffel in 2 weeks..i guess i should put on

my fear cloak..and badge!!

wooo woooo..

fly

[KansDem]

17. Either that, or make sure you take along enough plastic wrap and duct tape...

Just in case you need to "Christo" it!

[TahitiNut]

18. At Le Jules Verne or Altitude 95?

Le Jules Verne is a bit overpriced .. but so is Altitude 95. C'est domage. :shrug:

[flyarm]

31. LE JULES VERNE...

imet him the last time there..i was seated next to a table ( big) of all the people of the EU Board...my girlfriend told them i had been a Kerry delegate,,for Fla..and they were more excited that i tried to get *out of office!!
They then brought Jules over to meet me..
i have been there many many times (I was a 33yr flight crew and had many Paris layovers)

but that particular time i was treated like royality ..because i was a Kerry delegate!! lol..........

fly

[MADem]

21. Uh, you DO know there's a great deal of tension in France vis a vis the Muslim community, don't you?

Why the smartass remark?

What's YOUR theory, then? Tell us--why do these hijackers want to go to Paris? Do give us the benefit of your wisdom, why don't you?

[flyarm]

32. get over it..can you take a little humor??

i just retired 33 yrs as a flight crew for one of the 9/11 airlines..

I have spent years and years flying Paris layovers..i don't get into the politics of any foreign country...we can't take care of our own..so am i supposed to fix other countries politics?????

Pleaseeeeeeeeeeee....it is embarrassing enough these days to say we are American out of the USA............i am not going to fix French politics..when our own country is a frigging mess!

I work hard enough here trying to fix the damn mess this country is in..,it is not my business dealing with other countries problems..i stay away from problems out of the country...

most the time i am other flight crew try to pass ourselves off as Canadians so we have no problems!..as pitiful as that sounds..it is a reality!



fly

[zulchzulu]

16. They have good taste. Ever been?

Nice town. The gals there really know how to dress.

Wait...is that in......France?

[TahitiNut]

20. Are you talking about Rue St. Denis?

:evilgrin:

[MADem]

27. Where the prostitutes ply their wares, you mean? NT

[TahitiNut]

29. It's a "must see" for any tourist, I believe.

It's (literally) one of the more impressive sights in Paris. :wow: :wow: :wow:

[Skidmore]

9. Where's the Evil Dick and where's his

gun?

[MADem]

23. Why is everyone assuming the US has anything to do with this??? NT

[greyl]

12. So, it didn't go to Paris, it's landed in the Canaries? nt

[MADem]

24. It's ENDED. They arrested a guy.

http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Mauritanian_airplane_hijacked.html?siteSect=143&sid=7533779&cKey=1171569263000

[greyl]

26. Yes, thanks. :) I saw that in the more focused LBN thread. ;) nt

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

28. Great Job By The Pilot And Passengers And Thank God Everyone's Safe!

Great ending to this. Glad in the end everyone's ok.

[MADem]

30. .....yet another spectacular emigration attempt??? Not too smart a move if that was the case

Heckuva way to make people inclined to welcome you .... not.

Spanish security sources have confirmed that the individual probably is a man of Moroccan nationality - although this has not been officially confirmed.

The man is now held by Guardia Civil investigators in Las Palmas, where he is being interrogated over the incident. There are do far no indications over the hijacker's motives, but his alleged insistence to head to Paris have fuelled speculations that the hijacking was yet another spectacular emigration attempt. There are so far no indications of an attempted terrorist action.

The Mauritanian aircraft was hijacked only 45 minutes after takeoff from the capital, Nouakchott. The domestic flight was said to have 71 passengers and a cabin crew of eight. The pilot at first was ordered to fly to the town of Dakhla in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara to refill fuel. Local authorities there however denied the aircraft a landing permission.

With too little fuel to fly all the way to France, the hijacker soon settled for the nearby Spanish Canary Islands. Here, the aircraft was allowed to land, after Spanish police had time to organise a well-timed reception for the hijacker.


http://www.afrol.com/articles/24357