B.C. court records show second charge against alleged hijacker Shaheer Cassim
B.C. online court records say a charge of damaging or interfering with a navigation system was sworn Friday against Shaheer Cassim.
Cassim was arrested July 15 after allegedly threatening a flight instructor at Victoria International Airport, seizing control of a Cessna, then circling the plane over Vancouver's airport before landing and being arrested by police.
Police say the 39-year-old had an 'ideological motive to disrupt airspace' and announced a charge of hijacking the day after the flight.
Both charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Cassim is a former commercial airline pilot who posted on social media the day before the airport security scare that he was a 'messenger of Allah' sent to save humanity from catastrophic climate change.
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Cassim is expected to appear in Provincial Court in Richmond, B.C., on Tuesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2025.
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