Mid-air chaos: 16-year-old's assault diverts ti Winnipeg Air Canada flight - Here's what happened?

Air Canada flight diverted to Winnipeg after 16-year-old passenger assaults family member mid-flight.

An Air Canada flight from Toronto to Calgary took an unexpected turn when a 16-year-old passenger assaulted a family member mid-flight. The incident led to a dramatic diversion and a three-hour delay for the beleaguered passengers.

FILE PHOTO: Air Canada planes are parked at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada April 28, 2021.(REUTERS)

Mid-air drama unfolds:

According to police reports, Flight AC137 diverted to Winnipeg shortly after takeoff, only about an hour into its journey. The Airbus A321 was forced to land due to an unruly 16-year-old passenger creating chaos on board.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police revealed that the teenage passenger had assaulted an adult male family member during the flight. The situation escalated, leading to the crew and passengers working together to restrain the unruly teen.

Airline employees and fellow passengers stepped up to the challenge, managing to restrain the teen until the flight could land in Winnipeg. Upon landing, the suspect was promptly arrested, and he was later taken to the hospital for a medical evaluation.

While the 16-year-old was undergoing evaluation, the family member, who suffered minor injuries during the altercation, received on-site treatment. The flight, however, experienced a delay of three hours before it could resume its journey to Calgary.

Unruly passenger behaviour has seen an uptick, especially since the pandemic. Incidents reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) increased from 1,161 in 2019 to 2,031 in the last year. The aviation industry faced nearly 6,000 such incidents in 2021 as it rebounded from the COVID impact. (Also Read | Air Canada apologises over questioning of UK MP Mohammad Yasin)

Despite the rise in unruly incidents, 2023 marked a positive trend, boasting the lowest percentage of flight cancellations in a decade, just below 1.2%, according to the US Department of Transportation. This suggests that, while disturbances in the air are occurring, overall flight operations have been improving.