An AeroMexico passenger plane was hijacked in the Mexican resort of Cancun today and flown to Mexico City’s international airport where Transport Minister Juan Molinar told Reuters that it landed safely.

Three abductors aboard the Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet carrying 104 passengers have threatened to blow it up, if their demand to speak to President Felipe Calderon is not met.

The incident began at 1:40 p.m. (2:40 p.m. ET), when the plane arrived from Cancun.

El Universal daily said the men had not been able to get inside the plane’s cockpit.

According to a Fox New report, all passengers have left the aircraft, and the AP is quoting Mexican a media report that the hijackers are three Bolivian citizens.

Local television reports said that there were explosives on-board the plane.

Further details will be posted at the YWN Homepage as soon as they are available to us.

UPDATE: The following update is from CNN: A 44-year-old Bolivian drug addict and alcoholic who describes himself as a church minister was responsible for the brief hijacking Wednesday of a commercial jetliner, a Mexican official said.

The suspect — Jose Mar Flores — told authorities he hijacked the jet because the date — September 9, 2009, or 9/9/9, and 666 reversed — held some significance for him, said Genaro Garcia Luna, the secretary for public safety.

“He said that because of that divine reference he wanted to alert Mexico City of an earthquake,” Garcia told reporters.

The hijacking of the airliner carrying more than 100 passengers ended peacefully Wednesday at Mexico City’s airport.

Tthe Boeing 737 Aeromexico jet was hijacked as it flew from the resort town of Cancun, Mexico. Initial reports indicated there were several hijackers who said a cardboard box they were carrying contained a bomb. According to the early reports, they threatened to blow up the plane if their demand to speak to President Felipe Calderon was not met, CNN affiliate TV Azteca reported.

Calderon was in the presidential hangar in the airport preparing to depart when the incident began, leading him to cancel his planned flight, the station said.

The jet was moved to a remote area of the airport, and passengers were allowed to deplane; clutching their hand luggage, they walked slowly down the stairway to the tarmac.

Moments later, eight people were taken into custody and the package turned out not to contain explosives, the station said.

A U.S. law enforcement official familiar with the situation said preliminary information indicated there were 112 passengers aboard the plane, all from Mexico, the United States or France.

“The flight was very tranquil,” said Marisa Lopez, a passenger who was seated in Row 24 with her baby.

She said the only thing that caught her attention was a large number of emergency vehicles that were lined up along the tarmac when they arrived, five minutes ahead of schedule.

“Really, it was all very peaceful,” she said. “We saw nothing.”
(Sources: CNN / LA Times / Reuters / Fox News / AP)