Unruly passenger forces London-bound flight to land in Canada

[News_Editor]

ENFIELD, CANADA (BNO NEWS) -- A passenger plane flying to the English capital of London was forced to land in Canada on early Tuesday morning after one of the passengers became unruly and made unspecified threats, police said. He was arrested and taken to a hospital for an evaluation.

Corporal Scott MacRae, a spokesman for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said Air Canada Flight 854 was diverted to Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Canada's eastern province of Nova Scotia. The Boeing 777 landed in Halifax at approximately 5:11 a.m. local time.

Police had received a call at 4:18 a.m. local time that a passenger on board Flight 854 became unruly and the aircraft's captain decided to land in Halifax, where police vehicles surrounded the aircraft. "A 51-year-old man became unruly on the flight, uttered threats and he failed to comply with the crew's direction," MacRae said.

The spokesman said the man, who lives in Vancouver, was taken into custody and transported to a hospital in Halifax for assessment. "The matter is still under investigation," MacRae said, giving no specific details about the nature of the disturbance or the threats that were allegedly made.

The Boeing 777-300ER, which is capable of carrying up to 550 people depending on its configuration, was flying from Vancouver International Airport to Heathrow Airport near London. The plane eventually left Halifax about 2 hours later, at 7:26 a.m. local time, and landed at Heathrow about 5 hours later.

(Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].)

[geriatrickid]

The plane can carry 349 pax maximum.

Apparently, the man was throwing water at people. He was also reported to have been acting in a bizarre manner.

The diversion was made after the man allegedly made physical threats to the crew when the FAs tried to calm him.

The passenger was taken to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax for a psychiatric assessment.

[hanno]

The guy can only hope that he is declared mental; otherwise is staring some serious punishment in the eye. Post 9/11, authorities do not take none too kindly to threats being made

[spud67]

One more and this becomes a trend for passengers travelling from Canada to London. At least this guy picked a warmer place to be kicked off the plane unlike the previous guy in April.

Edited July 17, 2013 by spud67

[F430murci]

One more and this becomes a trend for passengers travelling from Canada to London. At least this guy picked a warmer place to be kicked off the plane unlike the previous guy in April.

On his way to propose (the April guy). I bet that impressed her and she was swooned her her feet into saying "hell yeah," I cannot wait to be your bride.

[khaosai]

The plane can carry 349 pax maximum.

Apparently, the man was throwing water at people. He was also reported to have been acting in a bizarre manner.

The diversion was made after the man allegedly made physical threats to the crew when the FAs tried to calm him.

The passenger was taken to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax for a psychiatric assessment.

Hi,

550 passengers is an exaggeration, but I have seen in the region of 450 passengers on board. 428 seats and then infants in addition to that.

The disruptive passenger definition is quite specific and really is a last resort if other methods of defusing the situation have failed.

Edited July 17, 2013 by khaosai