Overview

• Court records show Cassim faces two life-maximum counts under Canada’s terrorism provisions: hijacking and damaging or interfering with a navigation system.
• RCMP arrested Cassim on July 15 after he allegedly threatened a flight instructor, seized control of a Cessna 172 and circled Vancouver International Airport.
• His flight triggered a 39-minute ground stop and a NORAD F-15 scramble over Vancouver airspace before he landed safely with no injuries.
• Investigators point to Cassim’s social media post describing himself as a “messenger of Allah” on a climate-change mission to establish an ideological motive.
• Transport Canada and other agencies have launched a review of small-aircraft security protocols in general aviation.