Air Canada passengers rescreened on Toronto tarmac after security lapse in Paris

All passengers on an Air Canada flight from Paris to Toronto were forced to be rescreened on the tarmac after arriving in Canada last Friday after more than a dozen flyersdid not receive proper security screeningin France before getting on board.

The airline said crew aboard Air Canada Flight 881 on June 3 learned mid-flight that 17 of its passengers did not go through the required preboardsecurity screening at Paris's Charles de Gaulle airport. There were 325 passengers and 12 crew on board the flight.

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Air Canada said the passengers were "misdirected"by staff at Charles de Gaulleafter getting off a connecting flight from Sri Lanka and were supposed to go through moresecurity. But that additional screening never happened.

'Flight was secure'

Peter Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for Air Canada, said those passengers had been screened prior to their flight from Sri Lanka and did not leave the "secure zone"at Charles de Gaulle. He said their bags were properly screened in Paris.

"We assessed the situation in consultation with Canadian government authorities and determined the flight was secure," he told CBC News in an email on Sunday.

He said the rescreening was required by Transport Canada and the CanadaBorder Services Agency (CBSA).

Travis O'Brien, a spokesman for theCBSA, said the rescreening tookplace after learningthere were "passengers on board that had not completed preboard security screening in Paris."

"The CBSA was made aware of this incident and immediately put measures in place for the arrival of the flight at Toronto Pearson International Airport," O'Brien said.

When asked how frequentlysituations like thisoccur, the CBSAtold CBC News that this was an"exceptional circumstance."

'Pretty shocking'

Anthony Germain, who hosts the St. John's Morning Show on CBC Radio in Newfoundland, was on the plane coming back from vacation and missed aconnecting flight because of the rescreening delays.

He said all of the carry-on itemswerescanned againon the Pearson tarmac and thatpassengers were also scanned with a metal detector wand, and some were patted down.

Germainwas seated nearthe back of the plane, so he said it took him abouttwo hours to get through the process. He noticed thatcrew members were being screened as well.

Germain said passengersweren't told about the issue until they landed in Toronto. That's when someone came on board the plane and explained the situation. He said they were told the rescreening was being done for their "safety."

He said he was surprised that something like this could happen.

"Given what's happened in France and Belgium, to me it's pretty shocking," he said.

After being rescreened, passengerswere taken by bus to the terminal, where they then had to clear customs.

Charles deGaulleairporthas not responded to multiplerequests for comment.