Email

Print

Voice of: Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"I'm mostly grateful to be alive. It certainly has been an eye opener. And has made me think twice about being more grateful for life and grateful for God and faith. Sometimes we need a little bit of a jolt. That was a bit too much, but, it's working."

Jules Vasquez
"Now, you all were flying home from Ranchito to your home in San Pedro. When did you realize that things had gone terribly wrong?"

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"Immediately after I saw a man being stabbed. I thought it was some sort of disagreement or even a hit, perhaps. But I quickly thought, why would they do that on a plane? So I ran to the back and realized it was a hijacking. And, then just, sort of at that moment resolved to the fact that this is probably it for me. But the terror of seeing Casteneda coming toward me, to the back of the plane, I couldn't tell if he was stable or if he was going to live, but he sat down next to me and seemed to be calm or in shock."

"But then I realized, he definitely needed help because he was bleeding profusely. So I, just tried to compress, his chest where he'd been stabbed."

"He was so calm. He even once he sat down and we were able to help some of his bleeding, he said, I want you to know. And you know, over the loudness of the plane. He said, this is the best pilot we have. He will do what is right. He will keep us safe. Just keep that in mind and just calm down and it'll be okay."

Jules Vasquez
"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."

"At that point, my husband sat on me and would not let me move. And he said she is not going. She's not going up there."

"But thankfully, a young lady who was the friend of, D.J. Smalls, she volunteered and went up there and I said, thank you. You're so brave."

Jules Vasquez
"The pilot says as soon as the wheels, when they were getting close to landing is when he and he and Taylor really started to argue."

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"Oh, yes. it was intense."

Jules Vasquez
"As the wheels touched on. He killed the engine so that the guy couldn't cause any more harm."

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"Oh, brilliant."

Jules Vasquez
"What do you remember about those moments?"

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"I couldn't tell that that's what he did. I, however, did feel the plane kind of, pulled back. But you could feel the the way it stopped kind of suddenly, even though though we were still wheeling down the runway, I was, well, I didn't tell you this, but Castaneda told me to read the instructions on how to open the emergency door. So we were all prepared to do that if we ever got close enough to the ground. I think my husband actually opened the door, and, you could kind of feel, I guess, the engine die."

"But yeah, that was that was brilliant because the the hijacker was definitely trying to his best to do whatever he could to get control of the airplane because he, I was afraid he might want to take off again. And that's why we were wanting to jump out as quickly as we could see the ground close enough."

Jules Vasquez
"Even jump out of a moving plane."

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"Oh, yes. Oh we did. The plane was still moving as we were jumping out. Of course, we didn't know that the, the engines were dead."

Jules Vasquez
"When the plane landed is when they started to struggle."

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"Probably before the plane landed."

Jules Vasquez
"Really? So. So you sawTaylor attack the pilot?"

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."

Jules Vasquez
"So now, at what point did you recognize that you are safe and out of harm's way?"

Kim Maxwell, Survived Hijacking
"I guess on the tarmac, as I saw the big yellow engines rolling our direction. And I just assumed and hoped, after turning around and seeing other people getting off the plane after me, that most people were okay, and then I realized, okay, I'm okay then."