Submitted by Lisa Boudreau

About: Lisa Boudreau's friends and family were aboard CanJet Flight 918. The Canadian charter plane was hijacked in Jamaica. Most of the flight's scheduled 174 passengers had not yet boarded the flight when the situation developed on the tarmac, although an unknown number of passengers were briefly held hostage before being released.

Full story.

Update: Tuesday, April 21 - "Mom is okay"

I picked up her sons from school and told them of the days events. The oldest, Jérémie, was very logical in his understanding that his mom was okay and more interested in the details of what exactly had happened and how. Her youngest, Jonathan, seemed to understand that she was okay but he stayed pretty close to me all evening as we watched the news.

He also saw an interview on television with his Aunt Suzanne Ferguson and that seemed to make him feel better.

They have both agreed that our next family vacation will not be in Jamaica !!!

We received confirmation that Chantal has finally arrived in Cuba. We wish her rest and relaxation and we wish Aunt Suzanne a beautiful Wedding.

Monday, April 20 - "traumatized"

She recently spoke with her friend Chantal Ferguson who was on board. She shares her experience below.

My take: This is my best friend Chantal Ferguson.

Chantal Ferguson and Marco Thebeau, another passenger on CanJet Flight 918.

We spoke to her about an hour ago and she is exhausted and very emotional. She said the gunman was very agitated and out of control. He did fire a shot while all the passengers were aboard. There were passengers that tried to escape through the emergency exits and at that point he went up and down the aisles and pointed the gun in every passenger's face.

After that the passengers remained crouched down in their seats, at which point the stewardess came on the intercom and told them if they had money, they could put it in a bag and they could leave. After collecting the money, the flight attendant went up the aisles shouting to the passengers, telling them to run. To leave everything behind and just run.

My dear friend is an epileptic and requires daily medication, so she was waiting at the hotel for arrangements to be made to get her medication. They have no passports and no cash and are sitting in a hotel room, very traumatized.