Canada airport grounds flights after report of small plane 'hijacked'

Travel at one of Canada's busiest airports was briefly halted Tuesday after federal police received a report that a small plane had been "hijacked," officials said.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the western Canadian province of British Columbia said that at 1:10 pm (2010 GMT) they received a report that a Cessna 172 "had been hijacked from the Vancouver Island area and was entering into airspace near Vancouver International Airport."

"The suspect was the sole occupant of the aircraft," the statement added.


The plane landed in Vancouver at 1:45 pm (2045 GMT) and the "suspect was arrested without incident," the RCMP said, declining to provide further details.

Images published by public broadcaster CBC show the small white Cessna surrounded by security vehicles on a runway after landing in Vancouver.

The CBC reported the Cessna was operated by a flying club in Victoria, the provincial capital located on Vancouver Island.

Vancouver International Airport said nine inbound flights were diverted during the incident with a temporary halt to operations ordered across the airport in the West Coast city.