Dramatic footage has captured the terrifying moment passengers on a plane took cover as gunmen opened fire in retaliation to the capture of El Chapo's son.
Bullets can be heard spraying the plane after the arrest that triggered a wave of violent protests across a Mexican city.
Mexican authorities arrested Ovidio Guzmán-López, son of notorious drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán, in Culiacán, Mexico on Thursday (local time).
Guzmán-López is accused of leading a faction of his father's notorious Sinaloa cartel - one of the largest drug-trafficking organisations in the world - and the US is seeking his extradition.
Chaos erupted in the city following Guzmán-López's capture. Armed authorities and gang members clashed during and after the arrest resulting in the death of 10 soldiers and 19 suspected gang members.
Citizens were told to shelter at home as gang members reportedly set up roadblocks, set fire to vehicles and attacked planes at a local airport.
Footage circulating on social media shows frightened passengers ducking inside a plane as bullets were allegedly fired at two planes sitting on the airport's runway.
Terrified travellers aboard Aeromexico Flight 165 from Culiacan to Mexico City were about to take off when the gunfire started.
Passenger David Tellez was travelling home on the flight with his wife and three children aged seven, four and one when the incident unfolded.
"As we were accelerating for take-off, we heard gunshots very close to the plane, and that's when we all threw ourselves to the floor," Tellez told the New York Post.
He said the flight attendant told them the engine had been struck, causing a leak, and all passengers were transported to a windowless waiting room in the airport.
No injuries were reported and due to safety concerns flights have been cancelled or delayed, the airline tweeted.
The arrest comes days before US President Joe Biden and Canadian President Justin Trudeau are planned to visit Mexico City to attend the North American Leaders Summit.
Capturing Guzmán could be a way for López Obrador to show the US that he is "in control of the armed forces and Mexico's security situation," Gladys McCormick, an associate professor at Syracuse University who focuses on Mexico-U.S. relations, told CNN in an email.
Guzmán-López is being held in the Altiplano maximum security federal prison
His father, El Chapo is serving a life sentence in the US after he was found guilty in 2019 of drug trafficking and money laundering.
