Commandos end hijacking in Montego Bay, Jamaica

A seven-hour hijacking ordeal ended early Monday morning at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, Jamaica when a 20-year-old gunman freed the six crew members he was holding hostage inside a Canadian charter plane and surrendered to police.

The man's father and two of his closest friends assisted police with the negotiations.

It began Sunday night when the man, identified as Stephen Fray and described as "mentally challenged", stormed past guards and entered the CANJET aircraft that was on the tarmac on a stopover on the way to Cuba.

CANJET Flight 918, departed Halifax, Canada at 7:15 p.m. on Sunday and was scheduled to travel from Montego Bay to Santa Clare, Cuba with 182 passengers, including eight crew members, aboard.

Passengers said the gunman was erratic and the moment he entered the plane he began waving a gun and screaming that it was a hijack and that nobody should move. CANJET flight attendants tried their best to keep passengers calm and negotiated with the man, who eventually allowed the passengers to leave the aircraft but kept six crew hostage.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding, just back from the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad, flew from Kingston to the holiday resort, arriving at 2 a.m. Monday morning. His Canadian counterpart, Stephen HarperStephen Harper, who was also in Kingston on official business following the Trinidad summit, also flew to Montego Bay.

In Ottawa his officials contacted the Halifax-based airline and said they were prepared to to do whatever was needed to help. They even offered to use Harper's plane to get the Canadians home.

In recounting the ordeal to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) Monday evening Golding said it was fortunate that the first officer and another crew member were able to lock themselves in the cockpit and prevent the man from entering.

"When day broke, at which time he (the gunman) was expecting that the aircraft would be refuelled and he saw no attempt being made to refuel the aircraft, he became very agitated," Golding told CBC radio.

"We were able to receive one transmission from one of the (flight) attendants, who indicated that she was now becoming very concerned because of his behaviour and the threats that he was making.

"At that point, the security commandos apprised me that they would need to move to a more aggressive strategy. And they carried out that operation with superb efficiency. It was all over in less than three minutes and not a shot was fired, not a drop of blood was shed."

Golding told the CBC the commandos tricked the gunman into going to the cockpit entrance where they "pounced so quickly that he didn't know what was happening, and as they grabbed him, he threw away the firearm, and he was subdued." He said the decision to storm the plane was made by security force commanders.

"They assured me they were confident that they could execute the operation without any loss of life. But there was always a risk, and therefore, we had to weigh that very carefully."

Golding said several authorities have been ordered to carry out immediate investigations into the incident and report to him as soon as possible.

Harper praised the Jamaican authorities for their professionalism. "We really are tremendously grateful for the outcome of today's events," Harper said. "What could have been a terrible tragedy I think turned into a tremendous triumph for the professionalism, competence of the Jamaican security forces."

Golding expressed "our regret at the ordeal which was experienced by 167 Canadian citizens."

And he also delivered news to the Canadians that Sandals Resorts is offering each passenger and crew member a one-week, all-inclusive holiday at any of its resorts in Jamaica.

For extensive coverage of the hijacking, including video reports and verbatim statements from passengers, visit cbcnews.ca