Passengers of diverted Air France flight relieved despite delay

An Air France jet sits on the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport near Halifax, N.S. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015. (Andrew Vaughan / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

An Air France flight destined for Paris remains in Halifax after being diverted to city because the airline received "anonymous threats".

“We were incredibly scared,” said passenger Kalahn Taylor-Clark. “I held the hand of my neighbour and we just sort of watched as we were landing.”

RCMP have since determined there was no threat on Air France Flight 55, but passengers say it was still upsetting.

“I think I would rather come to Halifax for the night than risk my plane exploding over the Atlantic,” said passenger Frank Mather.

Passengers were first told there was a technical issue, but later learned there was a bomb threat.

“At the beginning I thought that it was maybe something happened again in Paris,” sad passenger Genevieve Lapeyre.

Lapeyre, who is from Paris, knew people who died in the terror attacks.

Irene Rodgers was there that night.

“I was there, 100 metres from my house where one of the shootings was,” said Rodgers.

Officers used police dogs to search the aircraft and luggage. No explosives were found and there was no evidence of a threat.

“The investigation will still be ongoing from a police perspective to determine the credibility and how the threat has occurred,” said Const. Mark Skinner of Nova Scotia RCMP.

Most passengers were tired, but understanding.

“I think it was really handled very well,” said passenger Ken Silvers. “All of these people were up and around helping us as best they could.”

The main runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport was closed for a few hours Tuesday night, but the secondary runway remained opened and no other flights were affected.

The main runway has reopened and airport authorities say it is business as usual.

“At this point, we have not heard from any of our partners that we need to increase our security levels here at the airport,” said Ashley Gallant of Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

Some passengers worried this kind of threat – real or not – is a sign of things to come.

“I think we're in for bad times,” said Rodgers. “We're in for bad times and the kind of environment we're not use to living in.”

Lapeyre says she knew it could have been much worse, so she didn’t mind the extra wait.

“A bit frustrated, but I think there are rules and you have to accept that the rules have to be followed.”

Air France Flight 55 is scheduled to depart Halifax Thursday at 3:45 a.m.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Kayla Hounsell.