http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Cathay+Pacific+flight+gets+escort+Vancouver+after+bomb+threat/3033623/story.html
Cathay Pacific flight gets military escort to Vancouver after bomb
threat-
VANCOUVER — A Cathay Pacific Airbus from Hong Kong was escorted by
two CF18 Hornet fighter jets to Vancouver International Airport after a
bomb threat Saturday.North American Aerospace Defence
Command officials sent the fighter jets to intercept a Vancouver-bound
Cathay Pacific flight Saturday afternoon after receiving reports of a
security threat involving the plane.Major Holly
Apostoliuk, with the Canadian NORAD Region headquarters, said the two
jets were scrambled under NORAD command from a forward operating base at
Canadian Forces Base Comox as a precaution."In this case
only as a precaution did we intercept and escort the aircraft until it
landed safely," Apostoliuk said.Alisa Cooper, a
spokesperson for Vancouver International Airport, said RCMP confirmed it
was a bomb threat after the passengers had safely disembarked from the
plane. Cooper said no one was injured and RCMP deemed the aircraft to be
safe.Some of the passengers on board the flight were
unaware of what was unfolding when the fighter jets emerged alongside
their plane.Jing Vance, 57, and her daughters Erica and
Candace were on the flight, which originated from Kuala Lumpur but made a
stop in Hong Kong.Jing said there was nothing odd or
suspicious about the flight until her daughter Candace, sitting in a
window seat, saw the fighter jet flying next to the plane with about 20
minutes to go in the flight. "I don't think the staff even
realized. I was sitting opposite an airline stewardess when we were
just about to land and she was talking to another passenger and
passenger said 'Did you notice there is a fighter jet outside' and [the
stewardess] said 'Oh really? Oh that's really interesting. I've never
seen one before' and everyone was quite surprised and taking pictures,"
Jing said."I was waving to him. He just looked back. …We
didn't think about it too much at the time," Candace said.Jing
said the flight was on time and the passengers exited the plane
normally. It wasn't until her family came to the baggage claim that
security appeared and surrounded the carousel."We all had
to step back. They were very serious," Jing said.When
passengers did get their bags they were all thoroughly searched in a
back room by airport security, Jing said.The family left
their bags to be delivered by a courier but was nonetheless delayed by
four hours and missed its connecting flight back home to Nanaimo.Cathay
Pacific's flight 838 inbound from Hong Kong, was listed as having
arrived at 1:35 p.m. Images showed the plane on an isolated stretch of
tarmac that is situated away from the main airport terminal. The
fighter escort caught the attention of Lantzville Mayor Colin Haime,
who just happened to be outside of his Vancouver Island home with a
camera in his hands around 1:25 p.m. when the trio of planes passed
overhead.Haime said the planes were much louder than he's
used to hearing, which prompted him to look up while he was taking
pictures for his daughter's high school prom weekend."I
glanced up and noticed that it was a commercial jet, but it had what
looked to me like a small fighter-type plane off one wing and another
one trailing in behind," he said."Jets do occasionally do
go over, but this one seemed particularly loud."He took a
picture of the jetliner, which shows one fighter on its wing, and
forwarded it to The Sun.Haime said he watched the planes
fly straight before banking to the south at a spot he guessed would have
been over Nanaimo.
Cathay Pacific flight gets military escort to Vancouver after bomb
threat-
VANCOUVER — A Cathay Pacific Airbus from Hong Kong was escorted by
two CF18 Hornet fighter jets to Vancouver International Airport after a
bomb threat Saturday.North American Aerospace Defence
Command officials sent the fighter jets to intercept a Vancouver-bound
Cathay Pacific flight Saturday afternoon after receiving reports of a
security threat involving the plane.Major Holly
Apostoliuk, with the Canadian NORAD Region headquarters, said the two
jets were scrambled under NORAD command from a forward operating base at
Canadian Forces Base Comox as a precaution."In this case
only as a precaution did we intercept and escort the aircraft until it
landed safely," Apostoliuk said.Alisa Cooper, a
spokesperson for Vancouver International Airport, said RCMP confirmed it
was a bomb threat after the passengers had safely disembarked from the
plane. Cooper said no one was injured and RCMP deemed the aircraft to be
safe.Some of the passengers on board the flight were
unaware of what was unfolding when the fighter jets emerged alongside
their plane.Jing Vance, 57, and her daughters Erica and
Candace were on the flight, which originated from Kuala Lumpur but made a
stop in Hong Kong.Jing said there was nothing odd or
suspicious about the flight until her daughter Candace, sitting in a
window seat, saw the fighter jet flying next to the plane with about 20
minutes to go in the flight. "I don't think the staff even
realized. I was sitting opposite an airline stewardess when we were
just about to land and she was talking to another passenger and
passenger said 'Did you notice there is a fighter jet outside' and [the
stewardess] said 'Oh really? Oh that's really interesting. I've never
seen one before' and everyone was quite surprised and taking pictures,"
Jing said."I was waving to him. He just looked back. …We
didn't think about it too much at the time," Candace said.Jing
said the flight was on time and the passengers exited the plane
normally. It wasn't until her family came to the baggage claim that
security appeared and surrounded the carousel."We all had
to step back. They were very serious," Jing said.When
passengers did get their bags they were all thoroughly searched in a
back room by airport security, Jing said.The family left
their bags to be delivered by a courier but was nonetheless delayed by
four hours and missed its connecting flight back home to Nanaimo.Cathay
Pacific's flight 838 inbound from Hong Kong, was listed as having
arrived at 1:35 p.m. Images showed the plane on an isolated stretch of
tarmac that is situated away from the main airport terminal. The
fighter escort caught the attention of Lantzville Mayor Colin Haime,
who just happened to be outside of his Vancouver Island home with a
camera in his hands around 1:25 p.m. when the trio of planes passed
overhead.Haime said the planes were much louder than he's
used to hearing, which prompted him to look up while he was taking
pictures for his daughter's high school prom weekend."I
glanced up and noticed that it was a commercial jet, but it had what
looked to me like a small fighter-type plane off one wing and another
one trailing in behind," he said."Jets do occasionally do
go over, but this one seemed particularly loud."He took a
picture of the jetliner, which shows one fighter on its wing, and
forwarded it to The Sun.Haime said he watched the planes
fly straight before banking to the south at a spot he guessed would have
been over Nanaimo.
