KINGSTON, JAMAICA (AP) - A gunman hijacked a Canadian charter plane on the tarmac near the resort city of Montego Bay and was holding the flight crew hostage, the airline said Monday. An airport spokeswoman said nobody had been injured.
The gunman boarded the plane after it arrived in Montego Bay from Halifax, Nova Scotia, according to the statement from CanJet Airlines. There were 182 passengers and crew on board the Boeing 737, but all the passengers were released, the company said.
The gunman and the crew of CanJet Flight 918 were still on board the plane early Monday, the airline said in a statement published early Monday on its Web site. Two crew members were released and five others were still on the plane, Jamaica Information Minister Daryl Vaz told CNN.
The gunman is a “mentally challenged youngster” who demanded to be flown to Cuba, Vaz said. He is about 20 years old and Jamaican, and the young man’s father was assisting with negotiations, Vaz said.
Prime Minister Bruce Golding was traveling to Montego Bay in response to the emergency, Radio Jamaica reported.
The situation began around 10 p.m. Sunday, according to Elizabeth Scotton, a spokeswoman for Montego Bay’s Sangster International Airport.
The airline said “a full security operation is under way” and it is cooperating with authorities in this Caribbean island.
Hotel arrangements were being made for the passengers, Vaz said.
The charter airline is owned by Halifax-based IMP Group Ltd., according to CanJet’s Web site.
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