A 58-year-old American man has been charged with mischief after a mock improvised explosive device (IED) was found in a passenger’s suitcase, forcing a Chicago-bound United Airlines flight to be grounded at Toronto Pearson International Airport for more than four hours on Thursday.
Peel police identified the man as Joseph Galaska.
“CBP officers immediately notified Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) who swabbed the mock IED for explosives with a negative result,” a CBP spokesperson said in a statement to Global News.
“For the safety of travelers within the Preclearance Facility (PCF), CBP stopped all traveler processing while the mock IED was tested.”
Toronto Pearson issued a tweet early this morning saying US Customs and Border Protection was “conducting investigation in regards to @United flight 547.”
The flight was initially scheduled to depart at 7 a.m. and was expected to arrive at Chicago O’Hare airport at 10 a.m. ET.
Dal Gemmel, a passenger on board, tweeted that the U.S. port authorities had revoked the plane’s pre-clearance privileges to enter the United States early Thursday morning due to a major security breach.
“We were told that there was a delay of an hour because of weather at Chicago,” Gemmel told Global News in a telephone interview from the airport.
“Later they came back and said there was a major security breach, that we needed to stay on the plane and they basically alternated going back and forth between saying that you have to deplane, you have to get off the plane.”
Gemmel said he and fellow passengers were taxied to an isolation area where they were searched by American and Canadian border authorities before being released.
Airport officials said the security breach had no impact on other airport operations.
A U.S. customs spokesperson said the aircraft was inspected, including the rescreening of all travellers and baggage, and normal operations resumed after the plane was cleared.
United Airlines confirmed to Global News that it will be reaching out to passengers to compensate them for the day’s ordeal. However, they wouldn’t disclose what the compensation will be.
Galaska will appear before a Brampton court at a date to be determined.
Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to call the Airport Division Criminal Investigation Bureau at (905) 453-2121, ext. 3133 or Peel Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
With files from Mark Carcasole
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