Sunwing Flight 772 Bomb Threat: 5 Facts You Need to Know

(WikiMedia)

(WikiMedia)

A passenger airplane flying from Toronto to Panama City was diverted 45 minutes into the flight and escorted by American fighter jets back to Toronto after a bomb threat was made on board.

The flight was Sunwing flight 772 and raw footage taken by passengers shows a SWAT team boarding the plane to arrest the unruly passenger.

Here is what you need to know:


1. An Unruly Passenger Made Bomb Threats

Around 45 minutes into the flight, as the plane is estimated to be over West Virginia, an unruly passenger reportedly made threats against the aircraft that, according to the CBC, “concerned the security of the plane.”

The pilots activated the threat response plan.


2. The Plane Was Escorted Back By 2 American F16s

The CBC reports that two F16 fighter jets were scrambled from Toledo, Ohio, and escorted the passenger plane back to Toronto.


3. The Passenger Was Arrested

The passenger, whose name has not been released to the press, was arrested by armed police when the plane arrived back in Toronto. The video above, shot by a passenger on the plane, shows heavily armed officers in body armor shouting forcefully for passengers to put their hands up and their heads down.


4. There Were 189 People on Board

The plane was carrying 183 passengers, including 2 infants, and a crew of 6 people. The plane left Toronto at 7 a.m. and was expected to land in Panama City Friday afternoon.


5. Yesterday a Plane Crashed in Mali Killing 116 People

air algerie missing,

(Getty)

None of the 116 people aboard Air Algerie flight 5017 survived when the plane went down in the Sahara desert during a flight from Burkina Faso to Algeria.