Fighter Jets Scramble for Cathay Flight to Canada

[Tom Sawyer]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8685018.stm

Canada jets escort passenger plane 'under threat'


Canadian fighter jets have escorted a Cathay Pacific airliner to land at Vancouver airport, military officials said.
The flight, which originated from Hong Kong, was under a potential unspecified security threat, the North American Aerospace Defense Command (Norad) said.
The plane landed without incident at about 1340 (2040 GMT), a Norad spokesperson said.

The plane has been towed to a secure area with the passengers on board.

[dirtydog]

Someone must have mentioned the bomb word

[Perota]

A bomb threat from the last update.

I always thought it was a bad idea to share flights with American Airline

[PaddyGreen]

Les beums were in gas town

[BugginOut]

It definitely is for people who might have a family member on a flight from HK to Vancouver.

[zygote1]

Flight 838 from Hong Kong to Vancouver (Canada), AB 340-300Q intercepted because of bomb threat. Control dispatch via NORAD HQ in Colorado Springs, CO, through NORAD Canadian command in Winnipeg, MB with 2 CF-18 Hornets scrambled from CFB Comox. 442 Squadron Comox which is responsible for Sea & Air rescue also dispatched 1 X CH 146 Cormorant helicopter and 1 X CC-115 Buffalo fixed wing to follow air craft.

Source: Press Release

[mr Fred]

Flight 838 from Hong Kong to Vancouver (Canada), AB 340-300Q intercepted because of bomb threat. Control dispatch via NORAD HQ in Colorado Springs, CO, through NORAD Canadian command in Winnipeg, MB with 2 CF-18 Hornets scrambled from CFB Comox. 442 Squadron Comox which is responsible for Sea & Air rescue also dispatched 1 X CH 146 Cormorant helicopter and 1 X CC-115 Buffalo fixed wing to follow air craft.

Interesting stuff. Even more interesting to find out the actual cause of the scare.
I suppose the fighters would shoot down the aircraft if it went to a populated area and refused to change course.
Lets hope to fuck they never make a mistake on that one.

[Jet Gorgon]

I heard them from my house. 555

It's Canada. They won't arrest anyone coz they might hurt someone's feelings.

No arrests after bomb threat aboard Vancouver flight - CTV News

[kingwilly]

THERE was no bomb found onboard a Cathay Pacific airliner escorted by fighter jets into the Vancouver airport overnight, federal police said, in the latest scare to hit North America.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) spokeswoman Corporal Sherrdean Turley said a "bomb threat" onboard the flight from Hong Kong had been called into the Richmond, British Columbia detachment of the RCMP.

"All necessary screening procedures were conducted," she said. "And there was no threat aboard the aircraft."

"There was nothing of any concern on the plane, but when a bomb threat is received, we take that very seriously and our investigation will be continuing."

The aircraft remained on the tarmac and passengers were taken off Cathay Pacific Flight 839.



Their luggage was left behind, public broadcaster CBC said.

"All of the passengers were safely deplaned," Corp Turley said. "The public is safe."

"I'd just like to reassure the traveling public that there is no threat to them at this time," she said.

Earlier, CF-18 Hornet fighter jets were scrambled by the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to intercept a Cathay Pacific flight, NORAD spokeswoman Holly Apostoliuk told AFP.

The order came "after information was received about a potential threat associated with the aircraft," she said.

"As a precaution," she added, "NORAD fighters escorted the aircraft until it landed safely in Vancouver at about 1:40 pm."

Earlier, Ms Turley said federal police "had received information of a bomb threat on a Cathay Pacific flight."

"No one was injured," she added.

Gary Ross, another NORAD spokesman said that "the interception was done in accordance with all safety procedures."

A young Nigerian, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, allegedly tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane in an Al-Qaeda plot on December 25.

Abdulmutallab pleaded not guilty in January to six terrorism-related charges, including attempted murder of 290 people on board the plane and trying to use a weapon of mass destruction.

He faces a maximum penalty of life imprisonment if convicted.

The son of a prominent Nigerian banker, Abdulmutallab allegedly had explosives stitched into his underwear, which failed to detonate aboard the Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

It was passengers and crew not US intelligence that thwarted the attack, tackling and restraining Abdulmutallab before he was escorted off the plane.

The foiled bombing triggered global alarm, leading the United States to adopt stringent new screening and security measures at airports around the world.

Probes revealed that US analysts knew Abdulmutallab was an extremist and that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was plotting an attack, but did not connect the information.

A British man, Richard Reid, tried to blow up a transatlantic jet in December 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Last week, US agents arrested a Pakistani-American man, Faisal Shahzad, for allegedly attempting to blow up a car bomb in New York.

[Tom Sawyer]

I heard them from my house. 555

It's Canada. They won't arrest anyone coz they might hurt someone's feelings.

No - but they will taser you to death if you can't speak English and cause problems in the terminal building. Wasn't it the very same airport?

[BugginOut]

Strange how they couldn't scramble fighter jets on 9/11.

[harrybarracuda]

Strange how they couldn't scramble fighter jets on 9/11.

In fairness, the use of civil aircraft as bombs in North America hadn't been invented then.

We live in a different world nowadays. They'll scramble jets if a pilot takes too long answering ATC.

[BobR]

Good to see the Canadians behaving as stupidly as the Americans. The score for this week; Terrorists 1 Canadian Government 0. The way to discourage terrorist behavior such as bomb threats is to make as small of deal as possible about it, not sending up fighters to put on a useless show of force.

This over reaction gives the terrorists exactly what they want, are governments too stupid to realize that?

[slackula]

Canada has fighter jets??!?!

[BobR]

Canada has fighter jets??!?!

They did in the South Park movie.

[D Mac]

Canada has fighter jets??!?!