Unruly Passengers In Custody After Sunwing Flight Returns To Toronto
The Canadian Press , 28 Aug, 2014 12:49 AM
The airline said the flight had left Toronto at 4:30 p.m. en route to Cuba when it was disrupted by "two unruly female passengers."
Sunwing vice-president Janine Chapman said the passengers had consumed a "significant quantity of their duty free alcohol purchase in the lavatory."
She said they lit a cigarette, triggering the smoke alarm, and "proceeded to get into a physical altercation with each other and made a threat against the aircraft."
Chapman added in an email to The Canadian Press that the threat was considered non-credible given the condition of the passengers.
NORAD said it scrambled two CF-18 fighter jets based out of Bagotville, Que., to escort Flight 656 back to Toronto.
Major Julie Roberge, a spokeswoman for NORAD based in Colorado Springs, Colo., said the CF-18s met the aircraft at the Canadian border and did not venture into American airspace.
She said the pilot had decided to turn the plane around over South Carolina and ‘‘that's when NORAD got involved,‘‘ adding there was no escort in U.S. airspace.
Roberge said the aircraft landed at Pearson at about 8:30 p.m. and that the CF-18 escort lasted just four minutes. She called the military escort a precautionary measure and a standard procedure in such incidents.
NORAD also used two American F-16 fighter jets based out of Toledo, Ohio in late July as a precautionary to escort another Sunwing flight as it returned to Toronto.
Peel Region police took the two unidentified women into custody once the aircraft arrived at Pearson.
There was no word on what charges might be laid against them. Peel police said they would provide an update later Thursday morning.
Sunwing said the flight was scheduled to resume its flight to Cuba at about 11 p.m. with a new flight crew.
For students, the month of April brings not only the stress of final exams but also the deadline for filing your tax return. Of course you need to make sure you’re paying what the law requires, but you also want to take advantage of some of the ways that students can reduce their tax bills. Here are a few of the FAQs from student taxpayers.
A jewellery store in Vancouver was robbed in broad day light yesterday at around 2:45 p.m. on Main at 50th Avenue. The heist was executed by a group of masked thieves who rammed a truck into the store.
Welcome to Canada! You probably already know it’s the second-largest country in the world, and you’re likely familiar with some of our cultural icons, like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, maple syrup, and ice hockey. But you might not know that Canada is a country as diverse and unique as those who call it home.
The RCMP is investigating an incident where an estranged husband allegedly broke into the family home in Langley and set the house on fire. The incident that occurred early morning on Wakefield Drive in Willoughby has left the mother and her two children terrified.
The Supreme Court has asked Lee Kun-Hee, chairman of South Korean electronics giant Samsung, to appear before a Ghaziabad trial court within six weeks in connection with a $1.4 million alleged cheating case.
