Raymond worked as a tractor driver in Minas Gerais inConstruction Mendes Jr., but was fired due to poor situation of the Brazilian economy that passed in the late 80's, high unemploymentand inflation exorbitant.

Unemployed and without expectations, Maranhão blamed the thenpresident, Jose Sarney, for its financial doldrums. So, he decided to hijack a plane and go to Brasilia, where he hoped to hit "up" withthe Brazilian president.
On September 29, 1988, the Boeing 737-300 left towards Porto Velho to Rio de Janeiro, where scales provided in Brasilia, Goiania and Belo Horizonte. In the mining town, MaranhãoRaimundo Nonato Alves da Conceicao, 28, boarded the thenVASP Flight 375, bound for Rio de Janeiro.

However, 20 minutes after taking off at the airport Confins,Raimundo Nonato rose from his chair and pulled out a gun 32according to the aircraft cabin. On board were 105 passengers.Remember that, at the time, the Brazilian airports do not use x-ray equipment to board domestic flights, which facilitated the passageof the gun.
Before arriving at the cabin of the aircraft, was prevented by Commissioner Raymond Ronaldo Dias, who was shot in the ear by the attitude. Then the kidnapper broke into the cockpit door with fiveshots and announced the kidnapping, however, one of the shots hitthe leg of the engineer Gilberto close.

At 11.15, as the threats, the commander Fernando Murilo de Lima e Silva sent by radio, the code 7700 that the coded language of aviation, it means kidnapping.n Brasilia, the Cindacta - Center for Integrated Air Defense and Air Traffic Control - the commander receives the message, and radio,asking what was happening on board the aircraft.

When the co-pilot Salvador Evangelista takes the radio to respond, Raymond puts his gun behind his head, killing him and shoots at the time.President Jose Sarney had been informed by his aides about the event and canceled all his official engagements that day. In aircraft, the hijacker made ​​the following towards Brasilia commanding to "settle accounts with the government," as he insisted.

On the radio the control tower of the commander receives the information that the fuel was running out and the aircraft would fallfrom a height of 10,000 meters.
The Center for Social Communication of the Air Force came to writea draft mourning the tragedy, because there was no theoreticalchances to land the aircraft safely. The captain Fernando Murillo, 41 years, with approximately 12,000flight hours, was a quiet man, which was crucial for the control of the situation. In no time, Fernando used the word "rapist" on the radio, with wisdom, was addressed to Raymond as a passenger.

Fernando warned about the possibility of the aircraft falling out of fuel, but Raymond was not worried and asked not to land at Brasilia airport. When near the airport also went to Anapolis (GO), again the commander made ​​the warning, however, prevented the kidnapperagain landing with a gun to the head of Fernando.Already in Goiânia, the commander bluffed and told Raymond that one of the engines would stop because the fuel was at an end andthat, therefore, would fall from the aircraft level.

In fact, Fernando off an engine, which did not level the plane by 180 degrees. With the maneuver, the captain made ​​an emergency landing and saved the passengers from a fall that would actually happen in a few hours, if not the pilot's skill.With the plane landed in Santa Genoveva airport runway, the kidnapper began to negotiate an escape. At first he asked for morefuel to get to Brasilia, then asked a flight in a Mirage fighter, but finally agreed to flee in a plane Bandeirantes.

By the security agencies, trading only had the aim to remove the aircraft Raimundo, ie no more than a theater.At 19hs, the kidnapper down the stairs of the aircraft made ​​the commander-in "shell". Soon after, the elite agents of the Federal Police who were shot around the track and hit three shots in thekidneys of Raymond. One of the shots he took in the legcomandante.Era the end of a kidnapping of 8 hours.The attempt to kill the hijacker, almost cost the life of the commander who was considered a hero by the passengers and all who followedthe outcome of the story. Maybe if Raymond had embarked on a direct flight from Belo Horizonte to Brasilia, the end could have been tragic!PS: at 1:30 you can see a mirage ready to shoot down the airplane if was necessary!