Flight services at Vancouver International Airport were briefly stopped on Wednesday after reports that a small plane was hijacked.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in British Columbia said they received a call at around 1:10 p.m. local time. The report claimed that a Cessna 172 plane had been taken from Vancouver Island and was flying near Vancouver International Airport.
According to airport audio recordings, a tower controller warned other pilots, saying, “We do have an aircraft that has been hijacked and is in the area.”
Witnesses said the small plane was flying unusually low and turning in circles above the airport. One person said it looked like the plane was making a large clockwise loop.
Because of the situation, all flights at the airport were stopped for 39 minutes. Nine incoming flights had to be sent to other airports. A WestJet Boeing 737 plane also had to cancel its landing because the small plane was flying nearby.
The suspect, who was the only person on the Cessna 172, landed the plane at 1:45 p.m. and was arrested without any trouble. Authorities have not yet shared more details about the person.
The Cessna 172, often used for flight training, had taken off from Victoria International Airport and flew about 40 miles before arriving near Vancouver.
