"All of us who were on board Flight 918 a few days ago have had to live through one of the worst nightmares of every passenger, pilot and flight attendant," shared Captain James Murphy.
And once the harrowing details of their terrifying ordeal are laid bare, most would find it hard to disagree with his assessment.
The year was 2009, the flight was CanJet Flight 918, the aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 built in 2000. Yet on this occasion, it was neither afatal plane crashnor arunway collisionwhich had people talking — it was an eight-hour hijacking carried out by a single armed gunman.
Following the nightmare ordeal, the entire crew's remarkable courage was recognised by the Canadian Prime Minister, with two flight attendants receiving awards for their exceptional bravery.
On April 19, 2009, CanJet Flight 918 was scheduled to depart from Jamaica's Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay, destined for Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Halifax, Canada, reports theMirror US.
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The aircraft was carrying 159 passengers and 8 crew members (some reports place the passenger figure at 174), all Canadian, with departure from Sangster International Airport scheduled for 11:00pm.
The crew aboard the flight were Captain James T Murphy, First Officer Glenn Johnson, Lead Flight Attendant Heidi Tofflemire, flight attendants Nicole Louise Foran, Carolina Sanitzo Arriola, Tony Bettencourt, Anu Goswami, and Security Officer Joseph Marc Garry Knickle. By 10:30pm, the flight was boarded by one Stephen Fray - a 21 year old man from Montego Bay who called himself 'Rico'.
Stephen was tall, dressed in a shirt, shorts, and shoes, and as it was later revealed, the son of a prosperous Jamaican businessman. What set him apart, however, was the fact that he was wielding a firearm.
Source: Daily Express :: World Feed
