Sept. 9: Aeromexico Flight 576 is on the runway after landing in Mexico City Airport.
A Bolivian religious fanatic hijacked a passenger jet from the Mexican resort city of Cancun after receiving a divine revelation, selecting the date 9-9-09 because it is the satanic number 666 turned upside down, Mexico's security secretary said Wednesday.
Public Safety Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna says Jose Mar Flores, 44, used a fake bomb to hijack the plane, then ordered the pilot to circle over Mexico City seven times. He told Mexican officials that he wanted to warn Mexican President Felipe Calderon of an impending earthquake.
The Bible-carrying hijacker allegedly used a juice can he said was a bomb to hold the 103 passengers — three were Americans — and the plane's crew on the tarmac for more than an hour before they were released and Flores arrested.
SLIDESHOW: Mexican Plane Highjacked.
"Christ is coming soon," a smiling Flores told reporters after he was detained.
Mexico's President Felipe Calderon was at home at the presidential palace and did not consider meeting the hijackers at the airport, according to Mexican television sources.
The AeroMexico flight, carrying American, French and Mexican passengers, was bound for Mexico City when it was hijacked.
As the plane was landing, Flores stood up and showed his contraption to a flight attendant, saying he and three others were hijacking the plane, Garcia Luna said.
After it landed safely at the airport there, a standoff ensued until masked police stormed the aircraft with their guns drawn and escorted several handcuffed men away without firing a shot. Police later said there was only one hijacker.
Flores later told police his three companions were "the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost."
Garcia Luna said Flores is a drug addict who was convicted of armed robbery in Bolivia, and has lived in Mexico for 17 years. Flores described himself as a pastor in southern Oaxaca state who had gone to Cancun to preach.
The attorney general's office said it was opening an investigation into terrorism and kidnapping.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
File photo of an Aeroméxico, Boeing 737. 
The Mexican government has said that an Aeroméxico Boeing-737, flight 576 from Cancun, was hijacked and landed safely at Mexico City International Airport in Mexico City.

The plane was traveling from Cancun to Mexico City. The situation ended without incident and all passengers and crew on board the aircraft were able to leave safely. All hijackers were arrested after Mexican security forces boarded the plane.

The incident began just after 1:30 p.m. (CDT) one man took control of the plane and demanded to speak to Felipe Calderon, Mexico's president. The hijacker said that if his demand was not met, he would blow up the plane. Earlier reports had stated there were explosives on board the aircraft, but none were found. Five people were initially detained without incident.

A short time later, four of the detained men were released without being charged. Authorities identified the sole hijacker as Jose Mar Flores, 44, who is being described as an alcoholic, drug addicted, religious fanatic. He claims he was on a mission to warn Mexico that an earthquake was going to strike the country. Flores said that the significance of the date, 9/9/09, the reverse of 666, was the reason why he hijacked the plane. Reports say he was carrying a box that he described as a bomb and would detonate it if his demand to speak to Calderon about the quake was not met.

104 people were on board the plane, but all passengers and crew aboard the aircraft have left it safely.  The airport remained open while the plane was dealt with on an emergency runway.

Calderon was inside the airport's presidential hanger waiting to depart when the plane landed.  His flight was canceled.