The eight crew members of CanJet Flight 918 were heartily praised for their calm professionalism Monday as details emerged of their harrowing encounter with an armed hijacker on the tarmac of a Jamaican airport.

Two members of the crew and all 159 passengers were set free after less than an hour of captivity when a quick-thinking flight attendant persuaded the gunman to accept cash and belongings in exchange for their freedom.

The rest of the crew were rescued seven hours later when a Jamaican counter-terrorism squad stormed the Boeing 737 and disarmed the gunman, who was described a mentally ill.

There was an unconfirmed report that one shot was fired early in the ordeal, but officials said no one was injured.

Kent Woodside, vice president of the Halifax-based airline, said the company's flight crews are trained to deal with high-stress situations.

"I'm just so proud how they dealt with it all," he told a news conference at a Halifax airport hotel. "Obviously their composure led to a successful outcome in this. ... In my view, that speaks to their training and their integrity."

Karen Tofflemire, the mother of flight attendant Heidi Tofflemire, said she received a call from her daughter at around 2:30 a.m. AT.

"She let me know she was safe and off the plane," Karen Tofflemire said from her home in Chezzetcook, N.S., noting that her daughter was among the first group to be released.

The flight attendant was one of the first to spot the hijacker.

"She was greeting the passengers coming on and he walked up to her and she had seen the gun. She said, `What is that?' And he said, `Never you mind. I'll take care of it.' He barged past her. So she went in to tell the pilot."

Tofflemire said she made a point of not watching or listening to news reports until everyone was off the plane because she was looking after her daughter's nine-year-old son.

"I did not want to get him worked up," she said of her grandson.

"Everything is fine now, and now he knows everything is good. We're just waiting now to find out when she is coming home."

She said her daughter has worked for CanJet for about seven years and was the "in charge" attendant when the flight made its stopover at Sangster International Airport in Montego Bay.

Tofflemire said her daughter sounded "shocked" when they spoke on the phone but added she was well trained to deal with such emergencies, having completed related training only last week.

"She got 100 on her testing, so I feel quite confident that she knew what to do. ... She was well prepared. She knows her job thoroughly."

Alphonse Gosselin, the father of one of the passengers, said his 30-year-old son was headed to Cuba with his girlfriend and about 20 friends and family members when the Jamaican stopover was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot.

"He heard a shot but doesn't know if it was inside or out," Gosselin said in an interview from his home in Tracadie-Sheila, N.B.

"The guy came down the aisle from one end to the other and told everybody to keep quiet and keep calm. ... He pointed the gun at everybody. My son's words were, `He was putting the gun in front of everybody's nose.' "

Despite the sudden alarm aboard the aircraft, the crew managed to calm everyone's nerves, he said.

"According to my son, the crew of CanJet did a fantastic job," said Gosselin, a former fisheries officer who retired in January and had planned to go to Cuba until his wife recently injured herself in a fall.

"They're professionals and it shows."

Gosselin said his son told his girlfriend to put her passport and a credit card in her back pocket before they handed over their money.

"He's a cool guy," he said of his son. "You have to have your wits about you to think about that."

Gosselin said his son's girlfriend had never been on an aircraft before.

"I guess she's coming back in a canoe," he said with a chuckle.

In all, 182 people -- 174 passengers and eight crew members -- had been scheduled to be on board the aircraft, the airline said.

The plane, bound for Cuba, was to leave Montego Bay at 11 p.m. local time.

CanJet later released a list of the crew on board.

The pilots on the flight were Capt. James Murphy of Halifax and 1st Officer Glenn Johnson of Montreal.

The flight attendants were Nicole Rogers, Halifax; Anu Goswami, Toronto; Tony Bettencourt, Toronto; Carolina Santizo Arriola, Toronto; and Tofflemire, who also lives in Halifax. The security officer is listed as Gary Knickle of Halifax.

Woodside said the airline will work with officials in Jamaica to determine how the man was able to storm the aircraft armed with a gun.

A separate CanJet plane was sent to Montego Bay to pick up any passengers who wanted to return home.

Woodside said anyone wanting to fly on to Santa Clara, Cuba, would be taken there.