A Sunwing Airlines flight bound for Cuba was escorted back to Montreal's Trudeau International Airport Thursday evening because of an "unruly customer.''
A spokeswoman for the airline said that flight WG604 departed for Cayo Coco but had to turn around because a passenger had made "non-specific threats.''
"The flight arrived back around 7:25 p.m. and the disruptive customer was taken into police custody,'' said Rachel Goldrick in an email to The Canadian Press.
Montreal police spokesperson Raphael Bergeron later confirmed a 39-year-old man was arrested. He said the man was intimidating other passengers and acting aggressive.
"Uttering threats of causing injuries or death threats, but there was no threat of a bomb or anything like that" Bergeron said. "It was most likely someone who was probably intoxicated by alcohol at the time and did not cooperate with the staff as well as police officers."
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The man is expected to appear in court Friday afternoon to face charges of public mischief and uttering threats.
Once the decision was made to turn the plane around a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15 jets were dispatched from Barnes Air National Guard Base under NORAD command to escort the Boeing 737 aircraft back to Montreal.
Sunwing apologized to the other passengers for the inconvenience, and provided accommodations and meal vouchers.
The flight was able to depart once again at 4:50 A.M. more than nine hours after it landed back in Montreal.
- With files from the Canadian Press