Tonight, pilot Howell Grange is at home recovering - and also speaking to 7news. The 40 year old pilot who navigated 14 passengers safely out of a hijacking on a Tropic Air flight one week ago tells us how he used his wit and his faith in a favorable outcome to trick the hijacker into thinking they were headed to the US. Jules Vasquez spoke to him at home this afternoon:

This first loop in the airplane's track was when Akinyela Taylor stabbed Fitzgerald Brown to signal the seriousness of his intent to hijack the plane.

Howell Grange, Pilot
"When I heard the the the ordeal happening and all I heard was stop, stop, stop. And I turned around and I saw Mr. Francesco already with his hands like that, and I already saw Mr Brown bleeding."

"And then, the guy he stand up with one foot on the chair and the next one on the ground and said, "This is a hijack, squawk 7700." That's what he said. I was unsure what I was going to do at the moment. Then I asked him where he wants to go. He said he needs to go to the United States. So I asked him what part of the United States you want to go? He said, Mississippi. Yeah. Mississippi. So I, I put it on the G-1000. I cut off the map and left just the airport on the MFT. They call it multifunction display. And I started to head to the International airport."

Jules Vasquez:
"So at that point, you had already decided I will have to create a fiction for this guy."

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yes, yes, I just told him. Well, at that point, well, we are going to go to the States. I'm going to take you to the United States."

Jules Vasquez:
"What made you decide in your mind? You know what? I ain't going to argue."

"Well, the state he was in, I didn't want no confrontation. My, my priority was flying the plane at that time, and I just complied with when he said. And at the same time, I comply, I just give him the comfort to know that we're going to go to the US. And just to buy a little time to figure out what I'm going to do. You know, at some point, I know he's going to figure out we're not going to go to the U.S."

Jules Vasquez:
"So you took a huge risk."

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yes, took a big 50/50 risk."

The odds of a favorable outcome were probably less than 50/50, but Grange just continued to circle and added elements to the fiction he had created for the hijacker:

"Created the whole scenario for him, because I had already realized the state of mind he's in. And I…good thing I had the opportunity to speak to the radar while I still had my headset, and I told him I need two persons, personnel to speak Spanish, so he believes that we're in Mexican airspace."

Jules Vasquez:
"You told them this in Spanish?"

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yeah. I told them."

Jules Vasquez:
"So he wouldn't understand?"

Howell Grange, Pilot

"So he wouldn't understand yeah. And then from there, good thing the tower and the radar did an excellent job to read what I was trying to do very fast. And they they portrayed anything you need to do just inform us and let us know what you're doing."

Jules Vasquez:
"So you told them this in Spanish?"

Howell Grange, Pilot

"Yes. Then I told him we have gotten the clear to pass through Mexico. That's what I told him. This time he was sitting right beside on the copilot seat, facing me with the knife held in his left hand. So I told him, well, we're going to go ahead over the water now. I mean, we're hitting water and we will pass by Cancun and then from there we will hit the Gulf of America or Gulf of Mexico, whichever he wanted to call.
That's what I told him. But I pretty much went to try and disorient him to turn the aircraft. Anytime I want to turn, I go into a little cloud and tune the heading bug. Well, you know, that's why I change altitude all the time. Go into the cloud, change, change that course. You don't pick up where you are. You don't. You're seeing blue water well he felt fine, he's seeing blue water. He feel we are homebound. So I came back in went back out, went all the way by Turneffe. Then I came back in and told them we're going to be hitting American airspace shortly. Then he give me his passport and tell him so they identify me, give them my name and tell them I have this airplane hijacked and we're going to be landing.
I said, okay, fine."

Jules Vasquez:
"You did that? With Belize air traffic?"

Howell Grange, Pilot

"Yes. So I told them in Spanish. I told them in Spanish, that this guy. nut, you know, getting me somebody for a speak proper English. And they did actually, they did,"

Jules Vasquez:
"American sounding English?"

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yeah. Something convincing. So that you could convince him you're in Texas."

"Anywhere we are. I don't know what he was playing out in his mind, but I know what I wanted to do. I wanted to reach and land, that is what I wanted to do."

Jules Vasquez:
"Because you're running out of fuel."

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yeah,"

But all that time, he was hundreds of miles from Texas circling over Belize - heading now to the airport

Howell Grange, Pilot
"The tower were nice enough they give me vectors and called out the airport name that that he wanted."

Jules Vasquez:
"They called out the airport name in Mississippi?"

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, they call out the airport. And and then I when I was coming in to land towards the sea from if you're coming from the west, zero seven. I got pretty much close to the airport.
He said I don't recognize the airport, said go around, he told me. I say okay, fine. I didn't want to convince him or fight him at that stage. So I went around and done start look at the fuel."

"So I come back in and I was getting closer and closer, and he said, he told me you were not landing where I want to be. I'm going to stab you jail style. I said alright, fine. No problem. I told him,I am going. You gotta make up your mind what gotta do. I told him we will run out of gas. If we're not there, we land, we take fuel, take out the people. And I'm personally going to take you there. And we're arguing back and forth, back and forth, back and forth in the aircraft."

Jules Vasquez:
"You're arguing because?"

Howell Grange, Pilot
"I was trying to distract him from not seeing the runway. So that's why I came on the coast and I head this way, head like I headed south heading. And when I know I have had the runway made. And he said, I think it's a good day to die. I told him if you go around one more time, they're going to scramble the jets and they're going to shoot us down. I told him, okay, you want to die? I disconnected the autopilot. You push it down. And that's when I grabbed the controls and I was already committed over the runway. As I touch, the first the touch, I out off the engine,."

Jules Vasquez
"You cut it off because?"

Howell Grange, Pilot
"So that he couldn't push power and go around and kill everybody on board. That is when he started to attack me. He realized he was not at the airport he wanted to be."

Jules Vasquez:
"And he started to stab you?"

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yeah. He stabbed me three times. First three times. The first one here, then here, my ears, this is where he nearly cut off my ears. And then here. But I had on my shades. And the shades saved me a lot. I tried to hold his hand but at that time, he was stabbing me here, here, here. And then, he switched the knife on the next hand and that is when I got the stab here. And the last stab he inflicted was right here, the one on my cheek when he was trying to go to the jugular. To my throat."

Jules Vasquez:
"And you're, you're putting up the fight in your life."

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yeah. While still trying to out of aircraft with my feet. But, I mean it was a tough fight. I won't lie you. He wasn't a small man and just, just, just, just like a few seconds before the plane actually stop, that is when I hear the shot. And then, I heard the second shot."

Akinyela Taylor had been killed by an armed passenger:

Jules Vasquez:
"You must have been relieved when you heard the shot. You didn't know that you had an armed passenger "

Howell Grange, Pilot
"I didn't know, I didn't know, I didn't know. I glad he was there. Trust me. I glad that, I'm happy"

Jules Vasquez:
"Yeah, because he would have continued stabbing you."

Howell Grange, Pilot
"I think I would not be here to tell the story if he didn't have that gun, honestly. "

But, this pilot was ready to die for his passengers:

Howell Grange, Pilot
"I made my mind up the second when I touch that plane down, I said it had to be me. Not everyone. Yeah."

Jules Vasquez:
"You even put the importance of their safety above your own. "

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yes, yes. "

Jules Vasquez:
"At one point, you told me that you decided to keep it close to the coast, because. "

Howell Grange, Pilot
"Yes, even when we have to drop on some could survive and some might die. But we have closure. At least closure. You know? "

That's heavy stuff stuff to deliberate but this pilot knows that he was fated to be in the sky that day:

"I don't know how I came up. I honestly don't know. But I know the good Lord was with me. I know he used my body to guide everything, but he was the one. Yeah."