May 15th, 2010
08:09 PM ET

Fighter jets escort plane over 'potential threat'

[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.

Read the full CNN.com story

[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 NORAD 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.

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Filed under: Air travel • Canada
soundoff (140 Responses)
  1. Angad

    WOW, I'm from Vancouver. Scary stuff.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:12 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Shannon M.

    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.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:17 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Victor Yaklovitch

    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.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:18 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Jackson

    It is spelled 'Winnipeg' and its > 2000 km from Vancouver. The fighter jets would have been scrambled from Comox on Vancouver Island.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:18 pm | Report abuse |
  5. toughenough

    WOW, I'm from America....get used to it

    May 15, 2010 at 8:19 pm | Report abuse |
  6. Kevin Brown

    The fighters were scrambled from Comox B.C. and not Winnipeg which is half way across the country

    May 15, 2010 at 8:19 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Megan

    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.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:20 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Steve

    Actually, the F-18s were scrambled from Comox on Vancouver Island.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:20 pm | Report abuse |
  9. EC

    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.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:21 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Connor

    Its good to know Canada (Im from the USA) knows how to handle the situation. Great job guys!

    May 15, 2010 at 8:24 pm | Report abuse |
  11. EdBnv

    duck and cover, the sky is falling, the sky is falling

    May 15, 2010 at 8:24 pm | Report abuse |
  12. dozer

    Could we PLEASE have ONE MORE comment about scraambling jets from Comox???!!! PLEASE!!!???

    May 15, 2010 at 8:25 pm | Report abuse |
  13. Sam

    Perhaps they ran out of Candian Mist? Just askin'....

    May 15, 2010 at 8:26 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Marietta

    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.)

    May 15, 2010 at 8:26 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Mr Right

    There are NO Jets posted at Comox. Its Strictly Search & Rescue Helicopters. Take this from someone who lives in Comox.

    May 15, 2010 at 8:28 pm | Report abuse |
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