Bomb threat causes headaches for delayed and diverted passengers
Airports in Newfoundland and Labrador had to spring into action Thursday night, to deal with diverted flights and delayed passengers, following a bomb threat on a plane in St. John's.
Passengers were delayed at St. John's International Airport and flights were diverted to other airports in the province, including Gander, as authorities dealt with the threat.
Police interviewed three St. John's women who had used a washroom where the note was found prior to the flight, but all three were later released.
Singer Mark Hiscock was on board Air Canada flight 143 with his band mates from Shanneyganock, headed to Edmonton to perform.
"Hopefully we'll get out, otherwise it's going to be bad for the fans up there waiting for us to play — and it will be bad for us to lose a few bucks."
More than a dozen flights were delayed in St. John's as a result of the threat, temporarily stopping hundreds of passengers from catching flights out of the city.
'Pure panic' for one passenger
Passengers were waiting for emergency responders to clear the area after a threatening note was found in the bathroom of an Air Canada plane that was getting ready to take off.
The search didn't find anything, and shortly before midnight police gave the all clear and flights began to take off and land.
It was a relief for passengers who were on board flights that landed in St. John's, but were not allowed near the terminal.
Courtney Vokey of Bell Island was bound for Halifax when she heard of the bomb threat. She arrived at St. John's International to check in for her flight at 8 p.m., only to learn that the airport was in a holding pattern.
Vokey said it was surreal to be in the middle of that situation.
"Pure panic. You really don't know what to do other than obviously follow the crowd and just wait," she said.
"The waiting was the worst part, because you didn't know what was going to happen. Eventually we did hear some news and via media — via Twitter and Facebook. We were able to find out that it was indeed a bomb threat, which made it a little more scary."
The threat was cleared, and check-in for flights resumed in St. John's at around 11:30 p.m.
Following the incident, the airport authority sent out a statement thanking the RNC, RCMP, St. John's Regional Fire Department and Eastern Health for their "prompt and professional" response throughout the ordeal.
Planes diverted to Gander, other airports
Planes destined to St. John's had to be diverted to other airports across the province Thursday evening.
The airport in Gander cleared their runways for three diverted planes that couldn't land in St. John's as a result of Thursday's bomb threat.
Being diverted to Gander was not an inconvenience for everyone. A few passengers were headed to St. John's just to take a connecting flight back to Gander.
Mason Humphries left the plane with his carry-on, and caught a ride home to New-Wes-Valley with his brother.
"They diverted the plane here, so I thought to myself, 'Well, I will get off here,'" he said.
"They're going to ship my luggage out around the bay for me."
He said passengers were fairly calm during the diversion, and he really didn't know what was happening.
"There was nothing on the plane about a bomb threat," he said. "Nobody knew anything."