Air Canada flight diverted to St. John’s after leaving Toronto, stranding 368 London-bound passengers; here’s what happened

An Air Canada flight diverted to St. John’s International Airport, Newfoundland, due to an ‘unruly passenger.’ According to CBC News, the incident unfolded late Friday night, February 6, when Air Canada flight AC858 departed Toronto for London Heathrow on what was expected to be a routine overnight transatlantic journey. The Boeing aircraft was carrying 368 passengers when the situation onboard escalated, prompting the flight crew to divert the plane to St. John’s, Newfoundland, where it made an unscheduled landing on Saturday morning.

“The aircraft was met with authorities,” Air Canada told CBC News, confirming that police were involved upon arrival. Social media posts on X claimed that passengers were asked to “delete videos of the incident” and alleged that the individual involved was screaming threats onboard.



Air Canada has not commented on the circulating claims or provided further details about the incident or the passenger involved, saying the matter has been handed over to law enforcement.

CBC reported, citing Ryan Howell, spokesperson for the St. John’s International Airport Authority, that the aircraft landed at approximately 8:00 a.m. Newfoundland Time.

Passengers were later flown back to Toronto, with most expected to continue their journeys on subsequent flights, the CBC report says. Data from flightradar24 shows the aircraft was about halfway across the Atlantic when they turned around.

Airport departure records show the return flight departed St. John’s at around 4:00 p.m.