Category: AVIATION

Canadian law enforcement announced the arrest of nine people, one is an Air Canada employee, in connection with the $20 million Canadian ($14.5 million) theft of gold bars and $2.5 million Canadian, ($1.8 million) in bank notes. The items were taken from a warehouse at Toronto Pearson Airport in April of 2023. Three other arrest warrants have been issued including one for an Air Canada manager. The original incident took place April 17, 2023, when a flight landed at Pearson International Airport from Zurich, Switzerland, with a cargo containing 6600 bars of .9999% pure gold. The bars weighed 400 kilograms. Shortly after landing, these items were offloaded and transported to a separate location on the airport property. The cargo was reported missing to the regional police department in Peel on April 18, 2023.

A Texas man was arrested after records show he tried to stow away on a Delta flight on March 17, federal court documents say. Wicliff Yves Fleurizard, of George, Texas, was caught on surveillance video taking photos of multiple people’s phones and boarding passes — “including a minor female.” The footage also shows Fleurizard using his phone as a boarding pass when he enters the plane and that he had used the photo of the young girl’s boarding pass to get on board. Once on the plane, Fleurizard spent a significant amount of time in the bathroom. Once boarding was completed, the court documents say Fleurizard then made his way to the back of the plane where he went into a bathroom there. A flight attendant noticed that all the seats were full on the plane and approached Fleurizard. “Delta is cooperating with law enforcement and relevant federal agencies regarding an investigation into a non-ticketed individual being escorted off DL1863 on March 17 aircraft in Salt Lake City prior to a scheduled departure. We defer any additional questions to law enforcement,” the airline said in a statement.

A pregnant woman gave birth on a Wizz Air flight from Jordan to London. A British doctor on board helped deliver the baby inflight and then the aircraft diverted to get the mother and infant to more medical assistance. The crew chose Brindisi Airport, in southern Italy, so the 38-year-old mother and her baby could be taken to Perrino hospital. The doctor, Hassan Khan, was flying home from a holiday in Amman when the flight crew called for a doctor. The woman was lying on the floor outside the cockpit after her waters had broken. Mother and baby are reportedly doing fine.

A U.S. military helicopter crashed Friday afternoon near the southern border, killing two soldiers and a U.S. Border Patrol agent, according to a statement from the military. Another soldier was injured in the incident. The UH-72 Lakota helicopter assigned to the federal Southwest border support mission was conducting aviation operations near Rio Grande City, Texas, a military statement said. The cause of the crash is under investigation. The helicopter was following migrants before it crashed in “an open field.”

An attempt to take over an El Al aircraft by “hostile elements” was reported. The attack was directed at the communication network of the El Al plane that was flying from Phuket to Ben-Gurion Airport. The attempt tried to divert it from its destination, El Al confirmed the next day. The plane reached its destination safely. The incident is reported to have taken place over an area where the Iran-backed Houthis are active. Somalia has also communication interruptions, but no responsibility has been determined. During the incident, instructions were given to the crew that were different from their set route. The crew disobeyed the instructions and switched to alternative means of communication. A statement at El Al stressed that “the disturbances are not aimed at El Al planes and that this is not a security incident. The disruption did not affect the normal course of the flight thanks to the professionalism of the pilots who used the alternative means of communication and allowed the flight to continue on the planned route.”

An 18-year-old from British Columbia is facing charges after he attempted to open the door of an aircraft while it was en route from Vancouver to Toronto. His actions caused the pilots to divert to Winnipeg, according to a spokesperson for Winnipeg Airports Authority. WestJet flight 710 diverted to the Winnipeg Richardson International. RCMP Manitoba said in a statement that it received reports of an unruly passenger trying to open the aircraft’s emergency door about half an hour before the plane landed. “Crew and other passengers had intervened and held him until they landed in Winnipeg. He was arrested without incident,” the statement said. A WestJet spokesperson said emergency medical services also met the plane when it landed. “Our crew are trained to handle passengers who may pose a safety hazard to themselves or others, as well as in de-escalating many situations to protect everyone on board,” the spokesperson said in an email to CBC News. The man was charged with endangering an aircraft under the Aeronautics Act. He was released from custody and is scheduled to appear at a Winnipeg court on May 23.

Delta Air Lines Flight 133 departed Amsterdam, Netherlands, headed for Detroit, Michigan. One hour into the flight, the aircraft turned back to Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport after maggots reportedly fell onto a passenger from an overhead bin, according to a report by a Detroit news station. Philip Schotte, a Netherlands native now living in Iowa, was interviewed and said he saw about a dozen of the creatures on a woman sitting next to him. “She was freaking out. She was just trying to kind of fight off these maggots. … I don’t really know what was going through my mind. I was trying to process it — disgust is one thing of course. We had to wait there for help to actually come,” Schotte told the station. The flight crew eventually traced the maggots to a bag in the overhead bin which contained rotten fish wrapped in newspaper. The bag containing the maggots was moved to the back of the plane and the plane returned to Amsterdam.

A passenger on a Thai Airways flight en route from Thailand to London Heathrow was arrested after being accused of punching a flight attendant in the face. The London Metropolitan Police met the aircraft upon landing and the man was arrested and charged on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and endangering an aircraft after the incident. Witnesses said the man started shouting in the bathroom, then smashed the door so hard it came off the hinges. “An older guy — in the white t-shirt — tried to get him out. A fight broke out and he ended up smacking the flight attendant,” the witness added. “I think he broke his nose.” The crew told passengers the flight might have to divert to Dubai if the man continued his behavior according to a newspaper report. The witness said two passengers sat on either side of the man and “kept pulling him down. We had to put up with his shouting. He was being very verbally abusive.”

A man allegedly attacked another passenger on a flight from Seattle to Las Vegas in January. He was arrested and now faces a federal criminal charge. Julio Lopez was taken into custody after the Alaska Airlines flight and is facing one count of assault with a dangerous weapon after investigators found a bundle of pens and rubber bands, according to court documents. The documents say Lopez tried to stab another passenger in the eye after he “began punching and hitting the victim.” Lopez is also accused of hitting the victim’s wife as she shielded her seven-year-old son during the attack. After the attack, Lopez allegedly screamed that he would “only talk to the FBI.” As he moved up the aisle of the aircraft, a law enforcement officer ordered him to sit down in an empty seat. The flight crew then “worked to provide flex cuffs and the defendant was restrained for the remainder of the flight,” per the docs. “The incident happened as the aircraft was on its descent for arrival in Las Vegas. The aircraft landed safely, and law enforcement took one passenger into custody after the plane arrived at the gate,” a company statement said. Lopez also told the FBI that “he intended to kill” the victim and that he “had created the weapon he used,” which authorities identified as the bundle of pens.

Lisa Archbold is filing a complaint with Delta Air Lines after she was escorted off a flight. In January, Archbold was flying out of Salt Lake City to San Francisco when she says a flight attendant told to her get off the plane after everyone was boarded. “She came to my seat and loudly asked to speak to me in private and escorted me off the plane as though I was a criminal,” Archbold, who identifies as queer said. “I felt it was a spectacle aimed at punishing me for not being a woman the way she thought I should be a woman.” She and her lawyer are calling on the airline to change their policy. “Delta’s contract of carriage says that Delta may remove a passenger when reasonably necessary for the ‘comfort or safety of passengers.’ For example, when ‘the passenger’s conduct, attire, hygiene or odor creates an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance to other passengers,’” said Archbold. “Please explain how wearing a t-shirt without a bra causes ‘an unreasonable risk of offense or annoyance.’” Archbold has filed an official complaint with the airline and is waiting for a response.