Laval man charged after U.S. fighter jets escort Cuba-bound flight back to Montreal

A 39-year-old Laval man waschargedFriday, after a flight from Montreal to Cuba was disruptedand thenescorted back to Montreal by a pair of American fighter jets on Thursday.

CharalabosNassioswas arrested by Montreal police Thursday evening when the SunwingAirlines flight returnedtoPierre Trudeau Airport.

Nassioshas beencharged with endangering the safety of an aircraft, uttering threats, assault, and obstructing or interfering with the lawful use of an airplane.He is set to appear in court again Monday for a bail hearing.

Crown prosecutor WilliamLemaysaidNassiosisalso facing a fifth charge, related to breaching bailconditions.

Rachel Goldrick, the spokesperson forSunwingAirlines,said flight WG604 had departed for Cayo Coco but turned around due to an "unruly customer"making "non-specific threats.''

"The flight arrived back around 7:25 p.m. that same evening,and the disruptive customer was taken into police custody,'' she said in an email to CBC News, adding that other passengers were given accommodation for the night, meal vouchers and were compensated for the inconvenience.

The next viable departure slot into CayoCocowas 4:30 a.m. on Friday, according to Sunwing.

"The person was uttering threats toward the staff. He was intimidating other passengers, so the decision was made to turn around," said Montreal police spokesperson Const. Raphael Bergeron.

"There was no threats about terrorism or anything like that it was more like behaviour that was aggressive," said Bergeron.

Charles-douardGoyer, who works at the airport as a ramp agent, saw the planeupon its return to Montreal.

"There were about 20 police cruisers (from) border services, airport security and Montreal police," he told CBC News."I saw the passenger baggage being removed."

Passengers angry

Other passengers aboard the plane said Nassios was happy and seemed drunk.

"What stuns me, it's not the first time I've takena plane, I've seen some like that before,"RobertRacettetold Radio-Canada. He saidNassiosappearedto be fairlydrunk, and "they knew andthey stilllet him get on."

Lorraine Racette said she heard a bit of aggressive behaviour from Nassios, but she was at the front of the plane, and he was in the middle. However, she saidshe was neverscared.

There was a retired police officeron the flight who she said tried to calm Nassios down, and he seemed to make progress, but the plane had already turned around at that point, she said.

"People were very mad. Very, very,very mad," she said.

Fighters scrambled

NORAD spokesperson Lt. Commander Joe Nawrocki said a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15 jets were dispatched from Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts and intercepted the aircraft near Albany, N.Y.

Canadian CF-18s were also reportedly scrambled from Quebec but did not take part in the operation. They "monitored from a distance, ready to respond quickly if required," MaryAnnaClemons, anotherNORAD spokesperson, told CBC News.

Clemonsadded that two F-16s were also scrambled from Atlantic City, N.J., and were in the airbut never intercepted the commercial flight.

She said the fact both countrieswere able to collaborate was due to "the unique binational relationship [that]allows for that cross border support between the U.S. and Canadian air forces."

How do fighter jets get involved?

NORAD Major Jennifer Stadnycksaida "domestic events network" was created in the wake of 9/11 to streamline communications between security agencies.

She saidmany factors can influence the network's decision to send fighter jets to intercept a plane.

"They can vary from lack of communication from the aircraft or the aircraft changing directions, or any other thing that seems concerning," she said.

"It's always better to launch and have eyes on the aircraft in the sky than to not have eyes on the aircraft."

The jet pilots look out for anything out of the ordinaryhappening with the plane they are following, like a change in direction or flight pattern.

Typically, she said, the fighter pilots remain in constant communication with the plane they are watching.

"There are multiple courses of action that we can take.... We don't really talk about them because it would reveal some of our tactics and techniques."