Fighter jets escort Cathay Pacific plane into Vancouver

[JoeShmoe]

Module body

48 minutes ago

By The Canadian Press
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VANCOUVER - At least two fighter jets have escorted a Cathay Pacific into Vancouver International Airport due to a potential security threat.

CF18 Hornet fighter jets acting under the North American Aerospace Defence Command flew alongside the plane from Hong Kong until it landed.

NORAD's Major Holly Apostoliuk says the jets escorted the plane as a precaution until it landed safely around 1:40 local time.

Cathay Pacific plane gets fighter jet escort - Yahoo! Canada News (http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100515/national/plane_threat)

She says the planes responded quickly from their base in B.C. once the information on a potential threat was received.

The Cathay Pacific plane is now sitting on the tarmac with passengers still on board.

The incident is being investigated by the RCMP.

[Toe Knee Tiler]

Cathay Pacific flight receives military escort to Vancouver airport (http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Cathay+Pacific+flight+receives+military+escort+Vancouver+air port/3033623/story.html)

[CokeZero]

This will be interesting to follow

[oriental flyer]

According to the press, there was a possible bomb threat . The plane lands safely Fantastic!
What do the authorities decide to do ? Keep all the passengers on board in close proximity to the bomb and approx 12 tonnes of fuel .
Which bright spark made that decision ?
Get the passengers off asap, keep them in a holding area for investigation if necessary.
But to leave them on the aircraft with a possible explosive device is the height of stupidity, or it wasn't a bomb threat at all but something completely different
Glad all the crew and passengers are unharmed .

Telex from CC to the hotel : Cancel the Lunch allowance

[Dan Winterland]

Cathay Pacific is one of the few airlines which has actually had an aircraft shot down by fighters!

[Runway101]

On 23 July 1954, Cathay Pacific VR-HEU, a Cathay Pacific Douglas DC-4 (VR-HEU) from Bangkok to Hong Kong was shot down by the People's Liberation Army Air Force in the South China Sea near Hainan Island. Ten people died, leaving eight survivors. After the incident, Cathay Pacific received an apology and compensation from the People's Liberation Army Air Force. It was apparently mistaken for a Nationalist plane (Wikipedia).

[flyhardmo]

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/3033625.bin?size=620x400

It was probably air canada that phoned it in. :}

[Runway101]

I am a just a rotorhead, but I was under the impression that the fighter jets could do a little more than just shooting things down.

Would they actually be able to see inside the small cockpit windows? If I am not mistaken that's what intercepting aircraft tried to do with the 1999 South Dakota Learjet before it crashed. Since they couldn't see inside back then (iced up windows?), do they have other equipment in the meantime (IR camera etc)?

[cxflyer]

Just be glad the mounties didn't tazer everyone.

[AGNES]

Formation flight of A340 and F-18.

YouTube - Cathay Pacific A340 escorted by 2 CF-18's at YVR (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kje6jA02ksY)