Man calling himself 'climate change messiah' charged after plane hijacking which saw fighter jets scrambled
Shaheer Cassim, 39, has been charged with hijacking, constituting terrorism, over the Tuesday incident, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
He seized control of a Cessna at Victoria International Airport on Vancouver Island by threatening a flight instructor and then flew the aircraft about 40 miles.
'We have an incident right above our airspace here — a hijacked 172,' an official said in a recording of air traffic control reported by the Vancouver Sun.
The hijacking caused the North American Aerospace Defense Command to scramble F-15 fighter jets before the plane safely landed.
Footage showed several police vehicles and armed officers surrounding the small white plane on the runway in Vancouver.
'Investigators have determined the suspect acted with an ideological motive to disrupt airspace,' said Sgt. Tammy Lobb.
A man with the same name and who resembles Cassim posted on social media that he was a 'messenger of Allah' and a 'Messiah' sent to save humanity from climate change.
He seized control of a Cessna at Victoria International Airport on Vancouver Island by threatening a flight instructor then flew about 40 miles
He said 'the Angel Gabriel appeared before me and gave me a message from Allah.'
Cassim's last post warned about 'abrupt runaway global warming' that will cause humans to go extinct within a few years.
Cassim also said in the post that he is 'Sam Carana,' who runs the 'Arctic News' blog that describes itself as a place where contributors 'all share a deep concern about the way climate change is unfolding in the Arctic and the threat that this poses for the world at large.'
His Facebook profile said he was employed from 2008 to 2010 by now-defunct KD Air, a small airline based on Vancouver Island.
The airline's former owners, Diana and Lars Banke, told the Associated Press that Cassim was one of the smartest and best pilots they ever worked with, calling him a fast learner who was highly intelligent.
Lars said Cassim left the airline after getting 'bored' and then went to medical school. He also said Cassim believed the world was coming to an end.
Diana said she was 'very surprised' to hear of Cassim's charges, saying he was quite young when he worked for them and was 'like a kid.'
Lars said he recalled that Cassim was somewhat interested in environmentalism, but he was unaware of any kind of religious beliefs.
'He never spoke religion with us,' Diana said. 'I'm really surprised that he would´ve done something like this.'
In 2012, Cassim held a news conference before going on a cross-country bicycle ride to raise awareness for global warming.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said the hijacking was a 'bizarre moment,' and the fact that it ended without a more significant disruption at the airport is a 'testament' to the skill of responders who talked the suspect down.
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