Bi-Honar
04-20-2009, 05:11 PM
Hostages freed, hijacker in custody after security storms CanJet airliner Module body
By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - Six crew members on board a Cuba-bound Canadian airliner from Halifax were freed and their captor taken into custody Monday after a lone gunman with "mental challenges" forced his way through security and stormed the jet as it was preparing to depart a Jamaican airport. The eight-hour hijacker-and-hostage drama that unfolded overnight at Sangster International Airport came to a peaceful end when members of a Jamaican counter-terrorism squad descended on the aircraft cabin, said National Security Minister Dwight Nelson.
The Jamaican Defence Force Counter-Terrorism Operations Group "stormed" the cabin of CanJet Airlines Flight 918 and were able to disarm the gunman without anyone being injured, Nelson told Canadian and Jamaican reporters. All the passengers who were scheduled to be on board the plane, which was to leave Montego Bay at 11 p.m. Sunday night local time, had been safely off the plane for some time. In all, 182 people - 174 passengers and eight crew members - had been scheduled to be on board, the airline said. Two crew members were released along with the passengers, who apparently exchanged their freedom for cash.
It wasn't immediately clear how many of the passengers were on the aircraft at the time, but a statement from the Jamaican authorities suggested 159 were on board, along with the eight crew, when the hijacking drama began. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding expressed relief that the standoff was over, apologized to Canadian passengers for their ordeal and promised a complete and thorough investigation into what he called an obvious security breakdown. "I'm very relieved, extremely relieved, that it's over and nobody has been hurt," Golding said. Arrangements to provide accommodations for the passengers have been made and they've also been offered funds to compensate for the money they surrendered to their captor. "There was quite clearly a breach of security at the airport, and I've asked for an investigation to be done immediately and a report to be made."
No injuries were reported; it was not immediately clear how many of the 182 were on board the plane when the gunman, who apparently demanded to be flown to Cuba, came on board. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who happened to be in the country for meetings with Golding, called his Jamaican counterpart upon hearing word the standoff was over. "The prime minister of Canada just got off the phone with the Jamaican prime minister," said spokesman Dimitri Soudas. "Prime Minister Harper thanked Prime Minister Golding for his efforts to oversee the situation and congratulated him for the successful resolution." Harper, whose original itinerary had him delivering a speech in Kingston, was instead planning to travel to Montego Bay later in the day, a spokesman said.
Kent Woodside, vice-president and general manager of Halifax-based CanJet, hailed the efforts of the airline's staff to deal with the situation and for getting all the passengers safely off the plane. "I'm just so proud of how they dealt with it all and that it turned out to be a successful situation," Woodside told a news conference in Halifax. A second CanJet plane is being sent to Montego Bay to pick up any passengers who want to return to Canada, while those who want to continue to their original destination of Santa Clara, Cuba, will also be able to do so, he added.
Woodside said CanJet will work with officials in Jamaica to determine how the gunman was able to breach security. "The front-line security rests with the airport or the airport authority; (There are) many steps of security before he would have reached the aircraft, so that's the part of the investigation that we're going to be participating with the Jamaican authorities on, is how this was allowed to happen."
Police in Jamaica identified the man in custody as Stephen Fray, 23, a resident of Montego Bay. No other details were immediately available, although Information Minister Daryl Vaz earlier described him as a man with "mental challenges." Alphonse Gosselin, whose son Christian was on board with girlfriend Nancy as part of a group of people from New Brunswick's Acadian Peninsula headed to Cuba for a wedding, spoke with his son shortly after the pair were released. "He was kind of shaken up, but basically he said everybody in the gang was OK," Gosselin told media from his home in Tracadie-Sheila, N.B.
Gosselin said a shot was fired outside the plane, and that the gunman demanded money from the passengers. "He told his girlfriend to immediately hide their passports in her back pockets, and their credit cards, which she did." The flight was the girl's first, he added. "She was quite nervous, so I don't know if she'll ever fly again." Another passenger, Brenda Grenier, told media the passengers essentially bought their freedom from the gunman, whom she identified as "Rico" and who said he wanted to go to the United States.
The gunman became agitated when a security guard came on board and tried to reason with him, Grenier said. He ordered the pilot off the plane, she said. "I don't know where the pilot went from there, but then he (Rico) shot his gun." "That's when we all got very, very scared and people were crying and praying and we were just really frightened for all of our lives. There were children on the plane." Grenier was filled with praise for the flight attendants, who did a "wonderful" job keeping passengers calm and relaxed, she added.
"The flight attendants were so good on the plane, telling us to relax - they were just really, really wonderful." One of them came up with the idea to offer the hijacker money in exchange for their freedom, she said. "We all took our money and we just, like, left our purses and our passports and everything just in the plane because we didn't want to take any chances. We just put the money in a bag and we ran out of the plane." Once back at the airport, said Grenier, there was "hugging and crying and just disbelief that that really happened."
In an interview, Vaz said he was surprised about the fact that someone with a gun was able to breach security. "That is something our investigation has already started with the police and the operators of the airport and of course, the government airport authority," he said. "That is something that is ongoing and in the early stages."
By Jennifer Ditchburn, The Canadian Press
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - Six crew members on board a Cuba-bound Canadian airliner from Halifax were freed and their captor taken into custody Monday after a lone gunman with "mental challenges" forced his way through security and stormed the jet as it was preparing to depart a Jamaican airport. The eight-hour hijacker-and-hostage drama that unfolded overnight at Sangster International Airport came to a peaceful end when members of a Jamaican counter-terrorism squad descended on the aircraft cabin, said National Security Minister Dwight Nelson.
The Jamaican Defence Force Counter-Terrorism Operations Group "stormed" the cabin of CanJet Airlines Flight 918 and were able to disarm the gunman without anyone being injured, Nelson told Canadian and Jamaican reporters. All the passengers who were scheduled to be on board the plane, which was to leave Montego Bay at 11 p.m. Sunday night local time, had been safely off the plane for some time. In all, 182 people - 174 passengers and eight crew members - had been scheduled to be on board, the airline said. Two crew members were released along with the passengers, who apparently exchanged their freedom for cash.
It wasn't immediately clear how many of the passengers were on the aircraft at the time, but a statement from the Jamaican authorities suggested 159 were on board, along with the eight crew, when the hijacking drama began. Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding expressed relief that the standoff was over, apologized to Canadian passengers for their ordeal and promised a complete and thorough investigation into what he called an obvious security breakdown. "I'm very relieved, extremely relieved, that it's over and nobody has been hurt," Golding said. Arrangements to provide accommodations for the passengers have been made and they've also been offered funds to compensate for the money they surrendered to their captor. "There was quite clearly a breach of security at the airport, and I've asked for an investigation to be done immediately and a report to be made."
No injuries were reported; it was not immediately clear how many of the 182 were on board the plane when the gunman, who apparently demanded to be flown to Cuba, came on board. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who happened to be in the country for meetings with Golding, called his Jamaican counterpart upon hearing word the standoff was over. "The prime minister of Canada just got off the phone with the Jamaican prime minister," said spokesman Dimitri Soudas. "Prime Minister Harper thanked Prime Minister Golding for his efforts to oversee the situation and congratulated him for the successful resolution." Harper, whose original itinerary had him delivering a speech in Kingston, was instead planning to travel to Montego Bay later in the day, a spokesman said.
Kent Woodside, vice-president and general manager of Halifax-based CanJet, hailed the efforts of the airline's staff to deal with the situation and for getting all the passengers safely off the plane. "I'm just so proud of how they dealt with it all and that it turned out to be a successful situation," Woodside told a news conference in Halifax. A second CanJet plane is being sent to Montego Bay to pick up any passengers who want to return to Canada, while those who want to continue to their original destination of Santa Clara, Cuba, will also be able to do so, he added.
Woodside said CanJet will work with officials in Jamaica to determine how the gunman was able to breach security. "The front-line security rests with the airport or the airport authority; (There are) many steps of security before he would have reached the aircraft, so that's the part of the investigation that we're going to be participating with the Jamaican authorities on, is how this was allowed to happen."
Police in Jamaica identified the man in custody as Stephen Fray, 23, a resident of Montego Bay. No other details were immediately available, although Information Minister Daryl Vaz earlier described him as a man with "mental challenges." Alphonse Gosselin, whose son Christian was on board with girlfriend Nancy as part of a group of people from New Brunswick's Acadian Peninsula headed to Cuba for a wedding, spoke with his son shortly after the pair were released. "He was kind of shaken up, but basically he said everybody in the gang was OK," Gosselin told media from his home in Tracadie-Sheila, N.B.
Gosselin said a shot was fired outside the plane, and that the gunman demanded money from the passengers. "He told his girlfriend to immediately hide their passports in her back pockets, and their credit cards, which she did." The flight was the girl's first, he added. "She was quite nervous, so I don't know if she'll ever fly again." Another passenger, Brenda Grenier, told media the passengers essentially bought their freedom from the gunman, whom she identified as "Rico" and who said he wanted to go to the United States.
The gunman became agitated when a security guard came on board and tried to reason with him, Grenier said. He ordered the pilot off the plane, she said. "I don't know where the pilot went from there, but then he (Rico) shot his gun." "That's when we all got very, very scared and people were crying and praying and we were just really frightened for all of our lives. There were children on the plane." Grenier was filled with praise for the flight attendants, who did a "wonderful" job keeping passengers calm and relaxed, she added.
"The flight attendants were so good on the plane, telling us to relax - they were just really, really wonderful." One of them came up with the idea to offer the hijacker money in exchange for their freedom, she said. "We all took our money and we just, like, left our purses and our passports and everything just in the plane because we didn't want to take any chances. We just put the money in a bag and we ran out of the plane." Once back at the airport, said Grenier, there was "hugging and crying and just disbelief that that really happened."
In an interview, Vaz said he was surprised about the fact that someone with a gun was able to breach security. "That is something our investigation has already started with the police and the operators of the airport and of course, the government airport authority," he said. "That is something that is ongoing and in the early stages."