[Update 9:38 p.m. ET] The security issue was a bomb threat that had been called in at 10:43 a.m. (1:43 p.m. ET), Cpl. Sherrdean Turley of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told reporters outside the airport.
[Update 8:28 p.m. ET] The plane, which was coming from Hong Kong, landed safely in Vancouver at 1:35 p.m. PT (4:35 p.m. ET), said Alisa Gloag, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Airport Authority.
Passengers were deplaned and the aircraft was being towed to another area for inspection, said Gloag, who did not have information about how the threat was reported.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is investigating, Gloag said.
[Posted 8:09 p.m. ET] Two CF-18 Hornets were scrambled from a Canadian military base Saturday to escort a Cathay Pacific Airways flight into Vancouver's airport, according to an official with the North American Aerospace Defense Command.
The action was taken in response to a "potential threat" to the flight, Maj. Holly Apostoliuk of NORADÂ told CNN.
The plane was escorted to the airport and directed to a restricted area.
No further details were immediately available.
- CNN's Greg Morrison and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.
WOW, I'm from Vancouver. Scary stuff.
I am previously from Vancouver too and used to work at the airport. Wow! Hasn't been since 911 that fighter jets have had to escort planes in.
The CF-18's were scrabmbled from CFB Comox on Vancouver Island...the directive to scramble was issued from Winnipeg. The way this story reads, it's like scrambling jets from Minnesota to escort an airliner coming to Los Angeles.
It is spelled 'Winnipeg' and its > 2000 km from Vancouver. The fighter jets would have been scrambled from Comox on Vancouver Island.
WOW, I'm from America....get used to it
The fighters were scrambled from Comox B.C. and not Winnipeg which is half way across the country
The CF-18's were deployed from CFB Comox on Vancouver Island, not from Winnipeg. We would be in big trouble if we had to wait for the military to be sent from halfway across the country.
Actually, the F-18s were scrambled from Comox on Vancouver Island.
Other reports said the fighter jets scrambled from Comox on Vancouver Island, which makes much more sense than Winnipeg. Winnipeg is near Minneapolis while Vancouver is near Seattle: Winnipeg is too far away for it to make sense for them to scramble jets from Winnipeg. I think the NORAD spokesperson is in Winnipeg.
Its good to know Canada (Im from the USA) knows how to handle the situation. Great job guys!
duck and cover, the sky is falling, the sky is falling
Could we PLEASE have ONE MORE comment about scraambling jets from Comox???!!! PLEASE!!!???
Perhaps they ran out of Candian Mist? Just askin'....
Geez, CNN, get your facts straight. Do you have any idea how far Winnipeg is from Vancouver? Flight time is 3 hours, they would still be on their way. Comox is on Vancouver Island, minutes away. Sheesh. (And I'm an American.)
There are NO Jets posted at Comox. Its Strictly Search & Rescue Helicopters. Take this from someone who lives in Comox.