Unarmed guards couldn't stop Montego Bay hijack suspect: report

Unarmed security guards at the Montego Bay airport were unable to stop an armed hijacker from getting on CanJet Flight 918, reports indicate.

The Jamaica Gleaner newspaper reported online that an airport official told them a man "threatened personnel in the terminal before proceeding to the aircraft. But still, he was not restrained because there were no armed security personnel in the terminal."

CBCNews.ca confirmed with an official at MBJ Airports Ltd., the company that runs the airport, that security officials do not carry guns in the terminal building at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to CBC News from Montego Bay, said it was not clear when or whether security at the busy Caribbean airport would be allowed to carry guns in the future.

The company official who spoke with the Jamaica Gleaner said security officials would not likely be armed, despite the recent incident.

The attempted hijacking of 174 scheduled passengers and six crew members was an isolated incident, the official told the paper.

Jamaican police eventually stormed the Canadian charter flight after negotiations with the gunman broke down, taking him into custody and safely releasing the crew members.

The opposition party in Jamaica, the People's National Party,is calling for an investigation into the incident, calling it a serious breach of of security, in a news release issued after the incident ended.

Many airports around the world, and in Canada,do not have armed security guards at every checkpointbut the facilities are also patrolled by local or nationalpolice forces whose membersdo carry firearms.

The flight left Halifax on Sunday at 7:15 p.m. local time for Montego Bay. It was to leave Jamaica later Sunday night and stop in Santa Clara, Cuba, before returning to Halifax.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding expressed relief that the standoff was over, apologized to Canadian passengers for their ordeal and promised a complete and thorough investigation into what he called an obvious security breakdown.

"I'm very relieved extremely relieved that it's over and nobody has been hurt," Golding said."Arrangements to provide accommodations for the passengers have been made and they've also been offered funds to compensate for the money they surrendered to their captor."