A man arrested for an alleged plane hijacking at the Vancouver International Airport earlier this week took to social media the day before to declare himself a “messenger of Allah” tasked with rescuing humanity from climate change.
Police say the suspect had an “ideological motive” and is thought to have commandeered the plane at Victoria International Airport by threatening a flight instructor, before subsequently flying to Vancouver.
A post on the Facebook page on the evening of July 14 says the angel Gabriel had appeared to Cassim with a message from Allah.
He said the Arctic sea ice would disappear within two years, triggering “abrupt runaway global warming” that would cause human extinction within “the first few years.”
Cassim held a press conference in Victoria in 2012 at the start of a cross-country bicycle trek to raise awareness about global warming and identified himself at that time as a commercial airline pilot.
His Facebook profile indicates he was employed from 2008 to 2010 by KD Air, a small Vancouver Island airline no longer in operation. It also indicates he attended high school in Lloydminster, Alta., before studying aviation at the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology.
Security Incident
Landings at Vancouver International (YVR) were suspended for more than half an hour during the afternoon of July 15 as the pilot of the Cessna 172 flew in low altitude circles in the airspace above the airport.The aircraft departed shortly before 1 p.m. from Victoria airport, and flight radar indicates it flew directly to Vancouver’s airport before circling for approximately 25 minutes.
Police said it landed at approximately 1:45 p.m., and videos circulating on social media depict police vehicles converging on the taxiing plane, before a bearded pilot exited and walked backward toward officers who had their weapons aimed at him.
RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Melissa Lui told The Epoch Times that Richmond RCMP, the Lower Mainland Integrated Police Dog Service, the Lower Mainland Integrated Emergency Response Team, and RCMP Air Services responded to the incident.
She noted that the suspect was arrested by RCMP officers without incident.
North American Aerospace Defence Command (Norad) confirmed on July 16 it scrambled F-15 fighter jets in response to the alleged hijacking.
The RCMP has not provided any information about a possible motive, but recorded dialogue featuring a Vancouver air traffic controller indicates the alleged hijacking might have been driven by some form of protest.
Vancouver air-traffic control initially reported a “rogue aircraft” just after 1 p.m. on July 15, requesting nearby aircraft to watch for the Cessna and to inform controllers of any need to “manoeuvre as necessary.”
