Man Hijacks Colombian Jetliner, Diverts It to 2 Locations, Then Flees

CARTAGENA, Colombia — A man described as mentally unstable hijacked a Colombian jetliner with 135 people aboard Monday and forced the plane to fly to Panama and Aruba before the aircraft returned to Colombia. The hijacker, who had unsuccessfully demanded $100,000 and safe passage to Cuba, escaped.

The captain of the plane said the hijacker, who gripped a hand grenade throughout the hijacking, apparently jumped off the plane as it was rolling toward the terminal at the international airport here on Colombia’s Caribbean coast Monday night.

The Avianca airlines Boeing 727 was hijacked Monday morning after it took off from Medellin in northwest Colombia. It soon returned to Medellin, where everyone except the flight crew was allowed to get off, then was forced to go to Panama and Aruba, an island off the coast of Venezuela.

No one was injured.

The captain, Luis Eduardo Gutierrez, told the Colombian radio chain Caracol that he had informed the hijacker after taking off from Aruba that the plane did not have enough fuel to reach Cuba.

After the plane had landed back here and was taxiing in the darkness toward the runway, the captain said, the crew noticed a light in the cabin indicating that the plane’s rear stairway had been lowered.

When the plane pulled up to the terminal at the airport, police rushed aboard but could not find the hijacker, Gutierrez said.

Authorities identified the hijacker as Albeiro Jimenez, a Colombian. Jimenez, they said, claimed to be suffering from a fatal disease and said he wanted the money to go to Cuba and spend his last days happily.