Regina woman frustrated by response to possible bomb scare on flight from Calgary
Posted Sep 30, 2016 7:26 am.
Last Updated Sep 30, 2016 9:45 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Air travel can be frustrating at the best of times and for a Regina woman passing through YYC Tuesday night it was also a little scary.
Kate Heisler was flying home when she and her fellow passengers found themselves sitting on the tarmac for an hour with no water, not being allowed to get up and no idea what was going on.
It wasn’t until she saw police on board that she really started to get concerned.
Heisler says an acquaintance sitting at the front of the plane overheard the flight crew talking about a note someone found in a seat-pouch with the word “bomb” on it.
But she explains everyone was kept in the dark, even after they taxied to the far end of the airport and de-planed.
“We had taxied down to the end, it was announced over the intercom by the pilot that we would be de-planing and more information would be available once we were inside,” she explained.
However, she says that information never came, and things just got more chaotic from there.
People were allowed to come and go as they pleased, families were split up as flights were rebooked, and all they got was a $10 food voucher each.
“Did I even guess that perhaps something going on regarding a bomb? – which apparently is what happened. No, I did not guess that,” she said.
Heisler believes the right thing was done in terms of holding the flight but she says the ensuing chaos inside the terminal and the lack of any real response or accountability from YYC is unacceptable.
She has a lot of questions about who groomed the plane, why Air Canada wasn’t more prepared when they got back to the terminal and why passengers weren’t told what was happening.
“They basically didn’t want to have anything to do with it and suggested I speak to Air Canada,” she explained. “Well, in my view, this is an issue for the airport to be concerned about. Air Canada is their tenant.”
You can see a full account of Heisler’s ordeal here.
660 NEWS has reached out to Air Canada for comment.
Sue, an Air Transat employee, called in to offer comment.
She says this is an abnormal situation, that is not airline specific, and it was probably handled extremely well.
“You have to err on the side of caution,” she said. “Other airlines it happens to, like WestJet – for five hours the people were stuck on the ramps in Kelowna, a walkable tarmac – and they weren’t released and nobody seems to jump on them for that. ”
She says safety has to be put first.
