Cuba-bound Sunwing plane escorted back to Toronto by two fighter jets after passenger ‘disturbance’

  
  NORAD jets were dispatched to escort a Sunwing plane back to Toronto on Wednesday as a   “precautionary measure.”

Police arrested two female passengers who drank alcohol, smoked cigarettes and got into a physical confrontation on a plane Wednesday evening, forcing the flight to divert back to Toronto.

Peel Regional Police arrested two women at Pearson International Airport when the flight landed around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, said police. The women are in their mid-twenties and from the GTA, said police.

The Sunwing plane was en route to Cuba from Toronto when two “unruly” passengers disrupted the flight, wrote Sunwing spokeswoman Janine Chapman in an email statement.

“It is reported that the passengers consumed a significant quantity of their duty free alcohol purchase in the lavatory and lit a cigarette, triggering the smoke detector alarm,” Ms. Chapman said. “These passengers proceeded to get into a physical altercation with each other and made a threat against the aircraft, which was considered non-credible given their condition.”

The flight took off from Toronto around 4:30 p.m., she said.

The incident also prompted the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) to send two Canadian military fighter jets to escort the aircraft back to Toronto.

NORAD received an alert at around 6:40 p.m., when the plane was over South Carolina, about a pilot requesting assistance, said a NORAD representative.

“The pilot decided to turn the aircraft around. According to the information, he made that decision … due to the disturbance on board and we were asked to go and escort the aircraft,” said Major Julie Roberge, a spokesperson with NORAD.

NORAD, the bi-national organization that provides airspace control for the United States and Canada, dispatched two Canadian Armed Forces CF-18 fighter jets from Bagotville, Que. to escort the plane back to Toronto.

The jets were dispatched as a “precautionary measure,” according to a NORAD press release.

Police were still going through witness statements from passengers Wednesday evening but the two women “obviously” caused a security concern, said Peel police Const. George Tudos.

“They uttered comments that were concerning to passengers and to the pilot,” he said.

Charges are pending, said Const. Tudos.

Major Roberge said it is “regular business” for NORAD to escort airplanes in Canadian or American airspace that experience passenger disturbances.

Sunwing said the flight was scheduled to re-depart from Pearson airport at 11 p.m. Wednesday.

“We are very apologetic for the inconvenience experienced by our customers and thankful to our flight crew for their efforts to safely manage the situation,” said Ms. Chapman.