TORONTO (AP) — A 25-year-old man charged for allegedly making threats on a flight from Toronto to Panama City is being released on $1,000 bail.
Ali Shahi appeared in a Brampton, Ontario, court on Saturday.
Sunwing Airlines says its plane turned around about 45 minutes into the flight Friday morning after an “agitated passenger directly threatened the aircraft.”
Two U.S. F16 fighter jets from Ohio were scrambled and escorted the plane out of U.S. airspace.
Sunline Airlines spokeswoman Janine Chapman said the plane, carrying 183 passengers and six crew members, landed safely at Toronto’s Pearson airport and no one was injured.
Cellphone video footage from passengers on board that was broadcast on several television networks showed heavily armed SWAT team officers storming aboard the plane to arrest the passenger.
After a delay of several hours, the Sunwing flight took off again for Panama.
Shahi has been charged with uttering threats and endangering the safety of an aircraft.
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