WestJet Flight Diverts to Winnipeg After Passenger Tries to Open a Door

by Anthony Losanno
WestJet 787

Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links below. This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

WestJet flight WS710 was scheduled to fly between Vancouver International Airport (YVR) and Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), but diverted to Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (YWG) after a passenger tried to open a door while in flight.

An 18-year-old man from Victoria was charged with endangering an aircraft under the Aeronatics Act and caused the diversion around 4:00 PM on Friday. Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) met the aircraft in Winnipeg and took the passenger into custody. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 23rd.

WestJet

A WestJet spokesperson issued a statement to CBC, it read:

Crew and other passengers had intervened and held him until they landed in Winnipeg. He was arrested without incident. Our crew are trained to handle passengers who may pose a safety hazard to themselves or others, as well as in de-escalating many situations to protect everyone onboard.”

WestJet reminded passengers that it’s not possible to open pressurized airplane doors when flying at high altitudes. It was able to reaccommodate the passengers and get them to Toronto on Friday after the incident.

Anthony’s Take: This is not the first passenger to try to open a door in flight recently. Last month, passengers on two different Air Canada flights attempted to open doors (more here). One succeeded as the plane was parked at the gate and he fell 20 feet below.

(Image Credits: WestJet.)

User Generated Content Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat encourages constructive discussions, comments, and questions. Responses are not provided by or commissioned by any bank advertisers. These responses have not been reviewed, approved, or endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the responsibility of the bank advertiser to respond to comments.

Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.

Leave a Comment

Related Articles