And while that situation was easily defused before the passenger got on the plane - even basic screening would have kept Akinyele Taylor off that Tropic Air flight, first because he had a knife, and, second, because he didn't seem stable.
Jules Vasquez recaps what happened during Thursday's hijacking:
One passenger told us that Taylor was sweating profusely even before the plane took off - and she was observing him because his behavior seemed unstable.
Shortly after takeoff from Ranchito - the hijacker, Akinyele Taylor, a 49-year-old U.S. citizen, demanded that the pilot fly him to Texas, USA.
Once airborne, Taylor first stabbed local businessman Fitzgerald Brown in the neck and back and as Jair Castañeda, a Tropic Air employee and fellow passenger, attempted to intervene, he was also stabbed in the head, chest, and arms. This loop early in the flight track may have been where that happened.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"We just know that after the plane took off about 6 minutes in flight, that's when he moved to take over the plane and directed the pilot to change course and take him to the US. It was around that same time that he stabbed the pilot following that there were several different instances in the plane where other persons were stabbed."
Taylor then commanded pilot Howell Grange to change course and head to Texas, ordering him to find somewhere to land and refuel for the flight north. Grange wisely defied the command and the aircraft remained aloft in Belizean airspace for one hour and 40 minutes, circling central Belize, and going out as far as the Turneffe Atoll.
Police were alerted through text messaging - but there was not much they could do other than dispatch officers to the municipal and other airports. Commissioner of Police Chester Williams said he was in the air traffic control tower.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"I happened to gone inside the radar room at the airport as he was communicating with the tower and throughout the whole discourse between him and the tower one would never know he was injured and so severely because he was extremely calm and well composed."
Belize's counter - terrorism unit, the Belize Special Assignment Group was sent to the airport to get into position. Reports say Belize's airspace was closed - and with a hijacked Cessna in the air following no flight plan - you can see why it might be.
But, fuel was running dangerously low - and one passenger, Don Maxwell told the San Pedro Sun "We were getting ready for a crash landing in the sea," He added that "Taylor was unfazed by Grange's pleas for them to land due to the plane's dwindling fuel supply."
Still, somehow, exhibiting preternatural calm in the face of an unprecedented crisis, pilot Grange kept within Belizean airspace and headed toward the PGIA. But Taylor knew that police would be waiting there, and that's when he started to stab the pilot.
His wife said in a statement that he had "multiple stab wounds, a major cut on his right arm and forearm, back, face, right ear and left forearm."
Taylor was trying to force him not to land and get control of the aircraft - which would have been catastrophic.
Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"If you were at the airport and you watch how the plane landed, the plane had such a smooth land, not like no jumping up, a smooth landing. So it says a lot about him as pilot his experience and how we has able to handle the situation mentally certainly must be commended."
Around 10:30 AM, the plane landed and passengers flung open the emergency exit and scrambled out. And then gunshots were heard inside the plane. One of the passengers used his licensed firearm to shoot Taylor in the chest.
When police ran to the plane they met a bloodied Fitzgerald Brown walking out with a firearm and a knife in his hand. He handed the weapons over to police and told them that the hijacker was on the plane with a gunshot wound.
Grange - who is recovering - issued a statement saying "I would also like to thank the aviation department especially those at the radar and control tower for your cooperation and understanding of my plans."
One passenger said - speaking of the 15 others on board with her - "many of us are still in shock, and we all need time to process and heal."
Another, Abner Diaz, known as DJ Smallz says "I struggle to overcome the traumatic events of yesterday. Yesterday was a close call and a reminder of how important life is and how we should cherish every opportunity with our loved ones....It has been both emotional and mentally challenging for me and my family and it will take some time for us to get to some level of normalcy."
Another, Jair Casteneda who was also stabbed called it "an unimaginable act of violence and evil,"
When one looks at the video of Taylor in front of the Belize Dry Cleaners on the previous Thursday, you see a man that is weary and confused - he had just been taken off a Houston Bound United Airlines flight one or two days before - and as he told the staff there, he was trying to get north, either to the airport, or to Corozal.
A desperate and confused man trying to get home - did the unthinkable and hijacked a domestic flight above Belize - when it's clear someone in his state should have never been allowed on a flight.
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