The RCMP were called in to investigate a security incident involving a WestJet flight at Calgary International Airport on Wednesday.
The flight was scheduled to leave Calgary bound for Ottawa at 10:45 a.m. but was eventually cancelled.
In a statement to Global News, WestJet confirmed that one of its flights — WS610 — “was delayed due to a security concern that needs to be fully investigated.”
While few other details were available, one passenger, who would only identify herself as Jacqueline, said she was waiting to board the plane when she saw several sniffer dogs and officers dressed in fatigues board the plane.
“We were just in the jetway and then literally as we were about to climb on the plane — they didn’t tell us why — they just said we had to go back up the gangway. They took us out of security and rescanned us all and did bomb tests on our hands. So I think it was just out of an abundance of caution — I don’t know how credible the threat was.”
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Another passenger, Josh Triemstra, said there was a heavy police presence around the gate area.
“I figured it was just an unruly passenger — next thing you know you see sniffer dogs outside the plane and they’re walking up the ramp into the cargo hold,” Triemstra said.
“They said that there was some sort of security breach and that they needed us all to exit out through the gate,” added Triemstra. “So they had us line up single file, show ID and our boarding passes, take everything and put it through the conveyors and do the hand swab.”
Triemstra said passengers were forced to wait more than four hours before WestJet confirmed the flight had been cancelled.
In a statement, WestJet said it was working at getting guests on their way safely.
While some told Global News they had been booked on later flights, others said they would need to spend the night in Calgary.
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