Gallant

WESTERN BUREAU:

ALL APPEARED normal Sunday evening, according to one passenger who boarded CanJet Flight 918 only moments before the hijacker.

Canadian resident, Morris Gallant, was heading back home when he entered the aeroplane directly in front of hijacker, Stephen Fray.

Gallant said he listened closely as a CanJet flight attendant asked the man behind him what he was doing. Within moments, Gallant said the man pulled out a gun and uttered to the flight attendant, "I want to go to America," while aiming the pistol at Gallant's face and back. The flight attendant then slowly proceeded to the cockpit and informed the pilot and crew that there was an armed man aboard the aeroplane, according to Gallant, who described Fray as "very calm for a person who was hijacking a plane".

"I was the last passenger to board the flight before the man," Gallant said. "My wife was in front of me and the hijacker was right behind me. During the ordeal he kept saying he wanted to go to America, among other things that I couldn't quite make out."

Gallant said the pilot came out of the cockpit to talk with Fray, who put his gun into his belt buckle for a few seconds, at which point, Gallant and his wife slowly inched away from the aeroplane door. His wife froze, Gallant said, and he had to forcefully pull on her arm in order to get her out of the aeroplane.

"It was Hell on Earth," a shaken Gallant said. "All I could think about was getting home to my two boys."

Unaware

For a while, many people already on the plane were unaware of what was going on, according to Gallant. There were still people waiting to get on-board when the hijacker demanded that the aeroplane door be closed.

Gallant said he had to act quickly and, before the aeroplane door was closed, he and his wife deplaned and made their way to the terminal doors, at which point they saw a second gunman quickly approaching them. They later discovered that he was a plain-clothes police officer. After some time, Gallant and other passengers heard a single gunshot fired from the plane. According to several reports from passengers with whom Gallant later spoke, the shot was fired by Fray.

Within 30 minutes, all passengers were released while the crew stayed aboard.

"I'm very grateful to the crew for handling the situation so well," Gallant said.

Along with approximately 100 other Flight 918 passengers, Gallant and his wife were transported to Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort to rest and await the next CanJet flight leaving Jamaica.

Although Holiday Inn Sunspree Resort Manager Evatt Bloomfield said most of the passengers who had been aboard the hijacked plane were sleeping, eating, or enjoying everything the resort had to offer, Gallant could only think about how lucky he was. He had not slept or eaten since the incident, as he admitted to being "too shaken up" to do anything but "sit and thank God for sparing my and my wife's lives".

Gallant, who had never visited Jamaica before, said the incident would not deter him from visiting the island in the future.

"I'd still come to Jamaica anytime," he said.

hope.evans@gleanerjm.com