Carrying 174 passengers and 8 crew,[4] all Canadian,[5] the plane was originally scheduled to leave MBJ at 11:00pm on 19 April 2009, due for arrival at YHZ at 7:15am the following day.

However, at 10:30pm,[6] Flight 918 was boarded by a lone, armed hijacker – 20-year-old Stephen Fray of Montego Bay, calling himself "Rico"[7] – who gained access to the plane brandishing a firearm and demanded to be taken to Cuba so he could defect there.

[12] Following the breakdown of negotiations, the police were ordered to take the aircraft, and, at approximately 6:40am, the Jamaica Defence Force Counter Terrorism Operations Group members stormed Flight 918 and took the gunman into custody.

[20] After CanJet sent an aircraft from its hub Montreal to retrieve passengers from Montego Bay and return them to Canada,[citation needed] Bruce Golding advised Governor-General Sir Patrick Allen to order an investigation into how a gunman was able to board an airliner in Jamaica.

[21] Transport Minister Mike Henry also ordered a security review, which covered both MBJ and Norman Manley International Airport in the capital, Kingston.