Unruly passenger forces London-bound flight to land in Canada

USPA 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.