CanJet Flight 918 hijacked

April 20, 2009 CanJet Flight 918 was hijacked on 19 April 2009, at approximately 22:30 local time at Sangster International Airport, Montego Bay, Jamaica.

The hijacking was executed by a single armed gunman, who later released all of the passengers and two of the crew, keeping six crew members hostage, according to a press statement by CanJet.

The man broke through security and boarded before the plane was scheduled to leave. There are contradictory statements on the number of passengers on board when the man forced his way onto the plane. According to the BBC, there were more than 150, while CBC states that "Most of the (...) passengers had not yet boarded the flight". The hijacker apparently demanded passage to Cuba.

The plane was stormed by Jamaican police in the morning of the 20th of April, who succeeded in taking the hijacker into custody and freeing the captives.

The flight had started from Halifax International Airport, in Nova Scotia, Canada, at 7:15pm local time. It was stopping in Montego Bay and was scheduled to continue to Santa Clara in Cuba. The airplane in use is a Boeing 737-800.