Passengers on an Air Canada flight to Toronto were left waiting on a tarmac in Montreal early Thursday as an “aggressive” traveller was arrested and escorted off the plane.
The passenger was removed from the flight for allegedly disturbing the peace, according to a voicemail update from Montreal Police Service’s communications department.
Air Canada flight 7783 was scheduled to take off from Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport at 5:30 a.m., but its departure time was pushed back to 8:30 a.m.
One passenger told CTV News that she and fellow travellers were told to wait on the plane while the airline dealt with technical issues.
She said the plane then drove to a part of the tarmac that was “very, very far” of the airport and remained there.
“After two hours, we finally went back to the airport and at the airport we realized that, around our plane, there were five cars of policemen,” she said.
Police officers boarded the plane, she said, and removed a lady that appeared to be sitting in first class. Some officers began looking through carry-on luggage.
According to the passenger, the pilot then came over the intercom and apologized to the remaining travellers.
He alleged that the woman was “angry” and claimed to have had a bomb.
Authorities at Pierre-Elliot Trudeau International Airport declined to comment.
