B.C. court records show second charge against alleged hijacker Shaheer Cassim

RICHMOND — The man accused of hijacking a plane and triggering a security scare at Vancouver International Airport last week faces a second charge related to the rogue flight.

B.C. online court records say a charge of damaging or interfering with a navigation system was sworn Friday against Shaheer Cassim.

Cassim was arrested July 15 after allegedly threatening a flight instructor at Victoria International Airport, seizing control of a Cessna, then circling the plane over Vancouver’s airport before landing and being arrested by police.

Police say the 39-year-old had an “ideological motive to disrupt airspace” and announced a charge of hijacking the day after the flight.

Both charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Cassim is a former commercial airline pilot who posted on social media the day before the airport security scare that he was a “messenger of Allah” sent to save humanity from catastrophic climate change.

Cassim is expected to appear in Provincial Court in Richmond, B.C., on Tuesday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2025.