Story highlights
Tactical police unit with weapons drawn arrest problem passenger
A 25-year-old man is accused of making a bomb threat
A passenger captured dramatic cell phone video of a Canadian SWAT team storming onto a Sunwing flight at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport Friday. The video shows the police tactical team swarming onto the plane with their weapons drawn, yelling at passengers to get their hands up, and forcefully removing a 25-year-old man from the aircraft.
The airline said the Panama-bound plane was forced to return to Toronto Friday morning about 45 minutes into the flight after a passenger, identified by authorities as Ali Shahi, made a “direct threat against the aircraft.”
Witnesses told CNN affiliate CTV that Shahi said he wanted to bomb Canada.
“The Sunwing flight crew followed the appropriate procedures and turned the flight around in cooperation with the FAA and Canadian authorities,” said Sunwing Travel Group Spokeswoman Janine Chapman.
Shahi, a Canadian citizen, was jailed on charges including mischief to property and endangering the safety of an aircraft, police said. He was scheduled for a bail hearing in Brampton, Ontario, on Saturday.
No one on the flight was injured, the airline said.
CNN’s Marlena Baldacci, Paula Newton and Kevin Conlon contributed to this report