MO. man attempts to highjack small plane in air in Belize, is shot dead. Ap. 18, 2025.

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Akinyela Taylor, 49, was a St. Louis, MO. area high school coach several yrs ago.

Plane was carrying 14 passengers and two crew members.

Authorities say "Taylor stabbed multiple people on board before one of the victims managed to shoot and kill him after Taylor had gashed the passenger." bbm

"... plane circled in random directions for nearly two hours in the skies during the incident..." bbm
A vid at the link shows a still pic of the flight pattern. Yikes.

Motive is not known.

https://fox4kc.com/sports/ex-missouri-coach-shot-dead-after-attempting-to-hijack-plane-in-belize/

stltoday.com | Read St. Louis, MO and Missouri breaking news. Get latest news, events and information on Missouri sports, weather, entertainment and lifestyles. also has story behind its paywall.
 
This vid from St. Louis, Mo. KSDK tv station runs 2min 36sec.


Another news vid. which runs 4min plus.
 
More news today in a long article w ten pix.

"Passenger recalls watching hero pilot land Belizean plane as he was being stabbed by hijacker Akinyela Taylor"​

"A shaken expat has told how US veteran Akinyela Taylor launched a deranged stabbing spree on board a packed Caribbean passenger flight – after the pilot refused to fly him to Texas."

"The St. Louis native – previously a joint interface control officer in the Air National Guard – was transported to the hospital but was dead on arrival...".

"Doug, a retired real estate investor from Nashville, Tennessee had flown that same route more than 100 times to get to his home on Ambergris Caye."

" 'There are no baggage checks or X-ray machines in Corozal,' he told DailyMail.com...."(bbm)

"Taylor was unmoved by the pilot's pleas, however, and vowed to crash the turboprop into the ground as it descended towards Philip Goldson International."

" 'That's when he began wrestling the pilot for control of the plane,' said Doug."

www.dailymail.co.uk

Passenger recalls watching hero pilot land plane while being stabbed

A shaken expat has told how US veteran Akinyela Taylor launched a deranged stabbing spree on board a packed Caribbean passenger flight - after the pilot refused to fly him to Texas.
www.dailymail.co.uk www.dailymail.co.uk
 
www.usatoday.com

A US military vet hijacked a plane in Belize, officials say. He was shot dead after stabbing 3.

An American man identified as Akinyela Sawa Taylor was shot and killed by a passenger while hijacking a small airplane in Belize on Thursday.
www.usatoday.com

Crazy story. In the first video linked in post #2, the reporter speaks with Taylor's nephew. The nephew said Taylor is married with 4 children & that he had seen him 2 weeks ago, everything seeming fine then. Stories are saying that Taylor had been denied entry to the country the prior weekend but still he was able to enter & then later boarded this plane that he hijacked.

Both Taylor and the three he stabbed were rushed to a hospital upon landing, where Taylor later died. The passenger who shot him was stabbed in the back and lungs and remains in critical condition, according to CBS News.
Click to expand...
 

According to the Commissioner, the police wasted no time in deploying, but they were unsure where the plane would ultimately land. Teams were sent to the airstrips in Belize City, Caye Caulker, San Pedro, Dangriga and even along the Coastal Road.
Click to expand...

"Closer to the time of landing the plane had come to the PGIA and was about to land and then we certainly saw the plane went back up again and the pilot later communicated to us that the hijacker had directed him not to land the plane here, I guess he knew that once he landed here there would be police waiting and so they went again with what we were told, 20 minutes of fuel, they went all the way east of the airport. That would be in the Blackbird area, Caye Caulker, San Pedro, at one point we thought it was going to land in Caye Chapel and so what we did is we contacted Astrum Helicopter because now we were thinking outside the box, knowing that the fuel was depleting, we were hoping we didn't have to move from a search and rescue operation to a search and recovery operation so the thing with the helicopter was to follow the plane to see where it would land so if they had decided to crash-land the plane in the sea or on one of the islands we would have been there quickly to respond and provide assistance to this passengers providing that they would have survived so we ensured that we planned properly for whatever may eventually happen.
Click to expand...
 
I do recall the security in Belize being sketchy at best when I took a flight ten years ago from Belize City to Miami. Basically they checked all the people who showed up early, and then just waved through the people who arrived at the last minute.
 
vls12345 said:
Click to expand...

For those who haven't yet viewed this link, there are additional updates posted there, a short interview with the pilot after he was released as well as an interview with a female passenger on the plane. Plus, photos of the pilot's injuries.

Includes this info about the pilot, Howell Grange:
When he arrived there last Thursday morning - they weren't sure he would make it - he had been stabbed 10 times, flown by helicopter to Healthcare Partners and had lost a lot of blood - while also aspirating and ingesting blood from the stab wound to his cheek and tongue.

Doctors performed emergency surgery and he was intubated and placed in an induced coma to stabilize his condition. From there, the 40 year old made slow, incremental. Improvements. He had a lot to recover from, his ear had nearly been sliced off, and the hijacker tried to stab him in the eye.

He also sliced him across the hand - and right through his cheek, which Grange says was an attempt to cut his throat.

The severity of his wounds are apparent - Taylor was trying to kill him - in a rage after realizing that had landed right back in Belize, not in the US.
Click to expand...

And part of the info from a female passenger:
"He was. He was very deliberate. Did he order you all to the back of the plane?"

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"He did. Yes, he did, because I think he felt threatened by the men behind him being too close."

Jules Vasquez
"And how was his, how was his tone?"

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"He was gruff, emotional and angry and yelling. And I don't know if anyone told you, but, at one point, I guess mid-flight in the middle part of all of this, he demanded that a female go up front and get and sit close to him. So he definitely had a plan and intentions, I believe, to take someone hostage."
Click to expand...
and
Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"I think I saw him get in three good stabs before I jumped off the plane. Yes. I'm like, oh my gosh, that poor pilot. I mean, he is just focusing with all he has to make sure we're safe. And I just couldn't believe that he was able to control himself and just stay so focused while being stabbed like that."

Jules Vasquez
"And then did you hear the gunshot after that?"

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"Absolutely. I heard five gunshots."
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Quotes from^ links. TYVM.
vls12345 said:
For those who haven't yet viewed this link, there are additional updates posted there, a short interview with the pilot after he was released as well as an interview with a female passenger on the plane. Plus, photos of the pilot's injuries.

Includes this info about the pilot, Howell Grange:


And part of the info from a female passenger:

and
Click to expand...
@vls12345
Thanks for your additions to this (and other) thread(s).
Much appreciated.
 
Not trying to be clever or facetious, this is going to make a terrific movie.
 
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