Community | April 20, 2009 | 3 comments

Jamaican police capture CanJet hijacker

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The standoff between a man who seized a Canadian charter flight in Jamaica and authorities ended Monday with the capture of the hijacker, police said.

The gunman, described by authorities as "mentally challenged," seized the Boeing 737 Sunday at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, robbed passengers, held several crew members hostage and demanded he be taken to Cuba, CNN reported.

CanJet Airlines Flight 918 originated in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and was on a scheduled stop at Montego Bay when the incident began, officials said. It was scheduled to fly to Santa Clara, Cuba.

The gunman fired a shot in the boarding bridge to the plane then took a number of passengers and crew hostage, said Elizabeth Scotton, a spokeswoman for the company that runs the airport.

The aircraft was carrying 174 passengers and eight crew members, Kent Woodside, CanJet's vice president, said. The hijacker earlier released all of the passengers, all from Canada, along with two crew members.

Two of the remaining six crew members locked themselves in the cockpit, Jamaican Information Minister Daryl Vaz said.
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