Unruly passenger diverts transatlantic flight to Halifax
Posted Jul 16, 2013 09:56:46 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A Vancouver man is in a Halifax hospital for assessment after being taken off an international flight at Halifax Stanfield International airport early this morning.
The Air Canada flight originated in Vancouver and was bound for London’s Heathrow airport, when a 51-year-old passenger became unruly.
RCMP Cpl. Scott MacRae says the unidentified passenger began to threaten other passengers and would not follow the air crew’s instructions, so a decision was made to divert the flight around 4:18 a.m.
“By no means is this an act of terrorism. It appears from early reports from passengers that this man just started acting unruly, throwing water on passengers, on flight crew, uttered some threats to the flight crew. Thus, the decision of the flight staff was to return to Halifax,” said MacRae.
The flight landed shortly after 5 a.m. in Halifax and RCMP took the Vancouver man into custody. He was transported to hospital in Halifax for assessment.
MacRae said police do not believe alcohol played a factor in the incident. Once the man was removed from the aircraft and witness statements were taken, the plane was allowed to resume its flight to the U.K.
The matter is still under investigation.
