Aeromexico confirmed that its flight AM165 from Culiacan to Mexico City was under attack Thursday afternoon, and eventually canceled.

Passengers and crew are safe but had to hide under seats to avoid intense shooting by Mexican drug cartels attacking Culiacan Airport and this AeroMexico passenger plane.

A military aircraft was also attacked by drug lords.
It appears travel warnings put in place by the US government were justified. The warning was telling American citizens traveling to Sinola, Mexico:

Do not travel due to crime and kidnapping. Violent crime is widespread. Criminal organizations are based in and operating in Sinaloa. U.S. citizens and LPRs have been victims of kidnapping.

Sinaloa is the most prominent state in Mexico in terms of agriculture and is known as “Mexico’s breadbasket”. Additionally, Sinaloa has the second-largest fishing fleet in the country. Livestock produces meat, sausages, cheese, milk as well as sour cream.

“Tourism is not a big business in this state. Even though terrorists attacked a passenger plane, this should not be misunderstood as an attack on tourists to Mexico”, said Dr. Peter Tarlow, the eTN Security expert and president of the World Tourism Network. “However Curacon is a city traveled to by business travelers.“

The shots were fired by people linked to the Sinaloa Cartel following the arrest by federal authorities of local drug lord Ovidio Guzmán, son of ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, on Thursday.

Ovidio Guzmán, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was captured on Thursday by forces of the Mexican Army and transported to Mexico City. This has led to chaos across the Mexican state of Sinaloa.

Members of the Sinaloa drug cartel shot live ammunition against a Boeing 737-800 registration FAM-3526 operated by the Mexican Air Force and an Embraer E190 registration XA-ALW operated by Aeromexico Connect.

In a video taken onboard Aeromexico’s flight AM165, passengers can be seen hiding on the floor of the cabin as shots are heard in the distance. This information was given by Aeromexico in a press statement,

“Volaris informs that, due to the closure of the Culiacan, Mazatlán, and Los Mochis airports, our flights to and from these destinations, are currently canceled. The activity suspension could lead to several delays and cancelations throughout our route network.”

Viva Aerobus stated,

Shots fired on AeroMexico flight about to take off for Mexico City