Canadian jet hijacked by mentally challenged gunman in Jamaica
Plane hijacked in Jamaica’s Montego Bay; crew held
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A gunman described as “mentally challenged” hijacked a Canadian jet on the tarmac near the resort city of Montego Bay and was holding six members of the flight crew hostage after releasing the passengers unharmed, officials said Monday.
Police and soldiers surrounded the plane as talks continued with the hijacker before dawn, according to Jamaican police spokeswoman Camille Tracey. Nobody has been injured, officials said.
A “mentally challenged youngster” boarded the plane in Montego Bay and demanded to be flown to Cuba, Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz told CNN.
There were 159 passengers and eight crew members aboard the Boeing 737 when the gunman forced his way through security checkpoints and onto the plane, according to a statement from Jamaican police. CanJet Airlines said there were 182 passengers and crew. The different numbers could not immediately be reconciled.
There are unconfirmed reports that a shot was fired outside the aircraft, CanJet Vice President Ken Woodside said in a news conference Monday.
“We are relieved that all the passengers involved in this incident are safe,” Woodside said. He added that his top priority was the release of the six remaining crew members.
All the passengers were Canadian, Woodside said. The plane had arrived from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was scheduled to stop in Santa Clara, Cuba, before returning to Canada.
The gunman and the crew of CanJet Airlines Flight 918 were still on board the plane early Monday, the airline said in a statement published early Monday on its Web site. Police said all the passengers and two crew members were released after being held a short time.
The gunman’s father and other family members were assisting with negotiations, Vaz said.
Vaz said the gunman is Jamaican and about 20 years old. He did not detail the man’s mental condition.
The situation began around 10 p.m. Sunday (11 p.m. EDT, 0300 GMT Monday), according to Elizabeth Scotton, a spokeswoman for Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport.
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Jamaican Gunman Releases Airplane Passengers
Jamaican officials say all passengers have been released by a gunman who was holding them hostage on a CanJet airliner at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.
Authorities say five crew members for the charter flight to Halifax, Canada – the first officer and four flight attendants – are still being held.
Officials say negotiations with the gunman are continuing. Jamaica’s information minister says the man asked to go to Cuba and that the gunman’s father has arrived at the airport to help in the negotiations.
A CanJet plane which has been hijacked by a gunman sits on the tarmac of the Flight 918 in Jamaica’s Montego Bay Photo: AFP
Gunman takes CanJet crew hostage in Jamaica
KINGSTON (AFP) — A lone gunman held the crew of a Canadian charter plane hostage on Monday after seizing the Cuba-bound jet with nearly 180 passengers on board following its landing in Jamaica, officials said.
All the passengers were released unharmed, but five crew members were still being held inside the plane at the Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, CanJet and local officials said.
“His demand was to go to Cuba,” Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz told CNN television without elaborating.
He described the gunman, whose nationality has not been disclosed, as a “mentally-challenged youngster,” but offered no details.
The minister said two crew members had already been released but five were still being held. No one was injured, he added.
“It’s likely that two of the crew members may be locked up in the cockpit,” Vaz told CNN.
Police were negotiating with the hostage-taker with the help of his father in a bid to resolve the standoff, the information minister said.
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Jamaica plane hijack: Passengers released but crew remain hostage
The man is believed to have got through security at Sangster International Airport using a fake ID and boarded the plane with a handgun as it was preparing to take off at around 2230 local time (0430 GMT).
A total of 182 passengers and crew were onboard the CanJet plane bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, when the incident began.
All passengers have now been released but the crew remain onboard, a CanJet statement said.
One shot was fired during the takeover but no one is thought to have been harmed. It is unclear what the gunman’s demands are, but negotiations with Jamaican police and the airport authorities are under way.
“Flight 918 was carrying 182 passengers and crew. All passengers have been safely removed from the aircraft, but CanJet crew and the armed man remain on board,” the Canadian charter airline said in a statement.
“Our understanding is that no harm has come to anyone remaining on board,” it added.
Read more on Telegraph
Woodside: “Non of passengers injured”
Jamaican hostage-taker makes Cuba demand
(CNN) — An armed man, described as “mentally challenged,” took six crew members hostage after he barged onto a passenger jet at a Jamaican airport Monday and demanded to be flown to Cuba.
The gunman, believed to be in his early 20s, released all passengers and two members of the crew from the CanJet plane but negotiations continued Monday morning at Sangster International Airport in the resort city of Montego Bay to secure the remaining crew members’ release.
“The hijacking is that from a mentally challenged youngster and not anything that would be of concern in terms of an international incident,” said Jamaica’s Information Minister Daryl Vaz.
“His demand was to go to Cuba,” he said.
CanJet Airlines flight 918 was carrying 174 passengers and eight crew members, said Kent Woodside, the airline’s vice president. All the passengers are Canadian, he said.