AN-24 Lands Safely In Florida, Hijacker In Custody

It's over. Twelve hours of tension, negotiations, false hope and, finally, freedom. It began when a passenger, carrying a small boy, threatened to use two hand grenades to destroy a Cubana Airlines AN-24 with 33 passengers on board. It ended Tuesday when the plane was allowed to take off from Havana and land in Key West (FL).

The hijacking was the second in two weeks of a Cuban airliner by Cubans seeking to leave their communist-run island for the United States.

The suspect forced the plane to leave Cuba despite a stern warning from the top US diplomat in Cuba. The State Department said James Cason delivered the warning from the Havana airport control tower after Havana asked Washington to tell the man he faced U.S. prosecution if he flew to the United States.

In Key West, FBI agents surrounded the Cubana Airlines twin-prop Antonov 24 as police aimed guns at the aircraft.

What Was The Count Again?

After initially reporting 31 people were on the plane, U.S. authorities said 33 got off -- 25 passengers, seven crew and the suspect. Many emerged with their hands in the air and lay on the tarmac.

Among them was the suspected hijacker, wearing a red jacket with "America" stitched on it. He carried a small boy to the bottom of the aircraft's stairs before being taken into custody, Key West police spokesman Steve Torrence said.

US authorities said the 33-year-old suspect apparently had his wife and 3-year-old boy with him on the plane.

Sheriff's deputies removed what appeared to be two hand grenades from the suspect's pockets, Torrence said.

"We don't know whether he in fact had grenades," Miami US Attorney Marcos Daniel Jimenez said, adding the objects were being examined. "They may have been false or inoperable objects that appeared to be grenades."

Cuban authorities said the suspect, Adelmis Wilson, had a criminal record and that police found handmade grenades at his home on the Isle of Youth, an island off mainland Cuba.

The other passengers and crew were being held by US authorities for questioning.

Cuba said the plane was hijacked on a flight from the Isle of Youth to Havana. The hijacker threatened to explode a grenade unless he was flown across the Florida Straits, but the plane did not have enough fuel. Disobeying the hijacker's orders, the pilot landed at Havana's international airport.

12-Hour Standoff

After a 12-hour standoff that closed Havana airport, the hijacker allowed nearly two dozen passengers to leave the plane. It was refueled and took off for Key West.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command scrambled two F-16 fighter jets, which intercepted the plane halfway through the 90-mile journey and escorted it to Key West.

The hijacking came less than two weeks after six Cubans hijacked a DC-3 at knifepoint with 31 other people on board and forced the pilot to fly to Key West.

The Blame Game

Havana, Washington's longtime ideological foe, says the United States encourages Cubans to leave the island illegally with its policy of granting residence in the United States if they make it to land.

"Cubans leave Cuba illegally because of the repressive and unrepresentative political system and the anachronistic and inefficient economic system the Cuban government maintains," State Department spokesman Chip Barclay said.

The six charged with hijacking the DC-3 in March sought asylum in the United States but instead were arrested and charged with air piracy. Most of the crew and passengers were returned to Cuba but some chose to stay in the United States.

 FMI: www.fbi.gov