A Porter Airlines flight from Victoria, B.C., to Toronto was cancelled after a young child repeatedly refused to sit down and buckle up, leading to a standoff that pushed the aircraft past an overnight runway curfew.
Incident details
The flight, PD444, was due to depart on Thursday night (August 6) but passengers were stranded until Friday (August 7) after the plane returned to the terminal and the trip was ultimately abandoned.
According to a Porter Airlines spokesperson, the aircraft had already left the terminal at Victoria International Airport and was taxiing toward the runway when crew noticed the child standing in their seat and refusing to secure their seatbelt. Despite efforts by cabin crew and the child's parents, the youngster could not be buckled in.
Safety regulations and delays
The airline stated that the aircraft could not take off in that unsafe condition, so the crew returned to the terminal to have the passengers disembark. Federal aviation rules prohibit take-off when any passenger is unsecured, forcing the captain to taxi back to the gate so the non-compliant family could be removed.
The disruption triggered a chain of delays, including locating and unloading the family's checked bags from the cargo hold, refiling flight plans with air traffic control, and completing incident paperwork. These steps took so long that the aircraft hit a strict overnight runway curfew at Victoria International Airport.
Flight cancelled
By the time the process was complete, it was past 12:30 a.m., when the runway shuts down for the night. With the runway closed, Porter had no choice but to cancel the flight, leaving remaining passengers to spend the night in Victoria before being rebooked on a departure the next day.
