CX838 receives jet fighter escort into YVR this afternoon
 

Flight receives military escort

Cathay A340 Intercepted ?
 

Brief blurb on CNN discussing a Cathay flight intercepted by Canadian F18's


Anyone with more information ?

Sky news reporting 2 jets escorted it to a 'safe landing' and towed? to a secure part of the airport following a 'risk to flight safety'.

that is Sky news tho :oh:

Does this protocol seem odd to anyone else?

And what did the escorting achieve?

I hope the media does not go [or try to go] too deep into the 'procedures' there are other links on that media site...that when looked at maybe a little to close

the Canadian AIP and the FAA AIM allow any pilot to request an intercept and escort...that's published in the relevant air publications:)

"And what did the escorting achieve? "

Possible eye-witness and or camera evidence of any mid-air event (Explosion)which may have occurred within the aircraft..???

Pure speculation on my part, but its a reason??

Very loud noises at low altitude over my place. s'ok, I like it.

terrorist bomb threat ?
 

Canadian Forces fighter jets escorted an airliner to Vancouver International Airport on Saturday afternoon following a bomb threat, Defence Department officials said.
Two armed CF-18 Hornets escorted Cathay Pacific flight 838, bound for Vancouver from Hong Kong, to the airport in Richmond, B.C. It landed safely at about 1:30 p.m. PT.
Passengers immediately disembarked from the plane but were held in customs for more than two hours and had to leave without their baggage.
The RCMP later determined there was no threat but continued to investigate the incident.
"There was a bomb threat aboard an incoming flight from Hong Kong," said Jay Paxton, a spokesperson for Defence Minister Peter MacKay. "We scrambled two CF-18s, one Buffalo and one Cormorant out of [CFB] Comox. The CF-18s escorted the aircraft to Vancouver and it landed without incident."
They did not land with the aircraft and have since returned to their base.
Officials said the jets responded quickly from their base on Vancouver Island once information of the potential threat was received. The fighter jets are authorized to respond to security threats with measures including lethal force.
With files from The Canadian PressCBC News - British Columbia - CF-18s respond to airline bomb threat

Rcmp Bomb Squad In Attendance ?
 

VANCOUVER — An airliner with a fighter jet escort landed safely at Vancouver International Airport on Saturday.
CONFLICTING REPORTS FROM WITHIN THE CANADIAN MEDIA ANYONE KNOW IF THE RCMP HAVE A BOMB SQUAD SECTION ?



Cathay Pacific flight 839 from Hong Kong, an Airbus A-340, was accompanied by two armed CF-18 Hornets, courtesy of the Department of National Defence.
The nature of the security threat that prompted the escort is unclear.
There are reports that Richmond Fire and an RCMP bomb squad have been called in but that has yet to be confirmed by either of those agencies.
Vancouver Province
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service

Fighter jets escort Hong Kong flight to Vancouver airport

937pm EDT

Canadian fighters scrambled after 'potential threat' on flight - CNN.com
Two Canadian fighter jets on Saturday escorted a Cathay Pacific Airways flight into Vancouver International Airport in response to a bomb threat on the plane, authorities said.
"A security issue raised on the ground in Vancouver meant extra security for the aircraft inbound to the airport and upon arrival," Gus Whitcomb, a spokesman for Cathay Pacific, said in a statement. "We are not aware of any issues arising on board the aircraft itself."
The security issue was a bomb threat that had been called in at 10:43 a.m. (1:43 p.m. ET), Cpl. Sherrdean Turley of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police told reporters outside the airport.
The plane landed safely at 1:35 p.m. (4:35 p.m. ET), said Alisa Gloag, a spokeswoman for the Vancouver Airport Authority.
Passengers were deplaned and the aircraft was towed to another area for further inspection, she said.
Turley said law enforcement authorities determined there was no threat aboard the aircraft.
An investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is under way, Turley said.

Apparently they were flying in very close formation (according to witness in BBC report). If there was a bomb on board, doesn't sound too clever...

I'm also intrigued to know why the military do this. I can't think of any plausible circumstance (except total comms and nav failure) that it is helpful - we generally have better navigation equipment, and better all-weather capability than they do. All they do is alarm passengers (and me!).

If they do need to intercept in order to take the extreme measure of shooting us down in case of hijack, then I'd prefer they kept out of sight!

Guess it gives them some distraction and PR. In practical terms I can't see what they could do if the bomb was for real.

Deterrence?
 

Maybe having a visible escort acts as a deterrence factor if someone was up to no good.

According to NORAD, the fighter pilots are to hoot the plane down if the cockpit is overtaken by terrorists and there is a threat to the plane being crashed into a public area.

A bit extreme for smoking in the toilet don't you think? :}

Just to wind up the spotters, CBC decided to illustrate this story with a picture of what appeared to be a Rafale this evening. It was definitely a canard-delta. Which given Canada basically only has one fighter type is a bit careless...

Amusing typos aside, the question was why fly in close formation next to a (possible) flying bomb. The answer has nothing to do with shooting down (and quite possibly more to do with PR and deterrence).

If they were actually ordered to shoot down, they could almost certainly do so without coming into visual range, let alone formation.