'No communication' from Swoop after cigarette smoke forces plane to land in Regina: passenger - Action News
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'No communication' from Swoop after cigarette smoke forces plane to land in Regina: passenger

The Canadian airline Swoop said it is working with authorities to investigate an unscheduled stop one of its planes was forced to makein Regina Wednesday night due to cigarette smoke.

No one hurt, but presence of fire trucks and police 'a little unnerving,' says passenger

A Swoop plane is seen at John C. Munro International Airport in Hamilton, Ont., in this 2018 file photo. One of the airline's planes, carrying travellers from London, Ont., to Edmonton, was forced to land in Regina Wednesday night when cigarette smoke was detected in the cabin. (Tara Walton/The Canadian Press)

James Beardsley said he was standing outsideRegina International Airport early Thursday morning when he saw his plane turn around and fly off.

Beardsley was one of the passengers on a Swoop plane carrying travellers from London, Ont., to Edmonton, when cigarette smoke in the cabin forced the plane to make an unscheduled landing in Regina Wednesday night.

"We didn't hear anything. We didn't know whether we were going back on the plane," said Beardsley, who was on his way to work at a gold mine operationin Nunavut.

Beardsley said the captain mentioned the smoke but nothingelse was really said. He recalled a "disturbance" before the landing, and the flight crew wearing breathing masks.

TheBoeing 737 landed in Regina around 11:45 p.m. CST on Wednesday. No one was injured.

Passenger James Beardsley says he'll be out of pocket for a stay in Edmonton until the next flight can get him to Nunavut, where he works. (Rob Kruk/Radio-Canada)

In a statement emailed to CBC News Thursday morning, a Swoop spokesperson confirmed that it was cigarette smoke in the plane's cabin that forced the landing.

"Failing to find the source of cigarette smoke the plane was safely diverted to Regina," the statement said.

The airline "is currently working with authorities and select travellers were interviewed, given smoking is illegal on any aircraft," the statement said.

"Swoop's number one priority is safety and our pilots followed proper operations protocol given the situation."

"I wasn't too worried until we touched down and all the fire trucks and the police were out on the tarmac waiting for us. That was a little unnerving," said passenger Dave McCorkle, who was on his way from West Lorne, Ont.,to Calgary for a wedding.

"And then they were saying it was cigarette smoke. Nobody knew and then the lights came on, and a few minutes later we started descending to land and they told us were were coming into Regina."

The Swoop flight WSW 537 was bound for Edmonton when it made an unscheduled stop in Regina Wednesday night. (FlightAware.com)

Regina fire crews, the Regina Police Service and EMS were on scene because the airport activated its emergency protocols, said James Bogusz, CEO of the Regina Airport Authority.

The landing is irregular because Swoop doesn't typically fly into the city, he added.

Bogusz said the Swoop plane departed fromthe airport around 4 a.m. CST on Thursdaywithout its passengers.

Passengers were provided witha hotel room and food vouchers, Swoop's statement said. The airlinealso said a WestJet flight would be provided to complete the journey to Edmonton on Thursday.

Beardsley saidit was WestJet, Swoop's parent company, which approached the passengers after the landing. WestJethad hotels for them but no news, he said.

Beardsley, who missed his connecting flight north, said he'll now be out of pocket to stay in Edmonton for five days until the next flight.

"It was very mishandled," he said. "There was no communication."

With files from Radio-Canada's Nicolas Duny and Sophie Chevance