A Porter Airlines flight from Victoria, British Columbia, to Toronto was cancelled after a young child reportedly refused to remain seated and fasten a seatbelt, with the resulting delay pushing the aircraft beyond Victoria International Airport’s overnight runway curfew.
Porter Airlines flight PD444 was scheduled to depart Victoria on Thursday night, August 6. According to the airline, the aircraft had already left the terminal and was taxiing toward the runway when crew members noticed that the child was standing in their seat and would not secure their seatbelt.
The child’s parents and cabin crew attempted to resolve the situation, but the passenger could not be safely secured. A Porter Airlines spokesperson told CTV News that the aircraft could not take off while a passenger remained unsecured.
Why did the Porter Airlines flight return to the gate?
The crew decided to return the aircraft to the terminal, where passengers were asked to disembark. What followed turned the onboard issue into a lengthy operational delay.
Porter said the affected family was removed from the flight and their checked baggage had to be located and unloaded from the aircraft’s cargo hold. The airline also had to refile its flight plan with air traffic control and complete the necessary incident paperwork.
Those procedures took enough time that the aircraft could no longer depart before Victoria International Airport’s overnight runway curfew.
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With the runway unavailable for a late-night departure, Porter cancelled the flight instead of operating it after the airport’s cutoff.
Passengers stuck overnight in Victoria
The cancellation left passengers booked on the Victoria-to-Toronto service stranded overnight. They were rebooked onto a flight the following day, according to the airline.
Porter maintained that the aircraft could not safely take off while the child remained unsecured. Airline safety procedures require passengers to be properly seated and secured before takeoff.
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Although the initial problem involved a young passenger refusing to fasten a seatbelt, resolving it required the aircraft to return to the terminal and triggered additional baggage, air-traffic-control and administrative procedures.
The accumulated delay ultimately meant that flight PD444 missed the airport’s overnight runway operating window, forcing Porter to cancel the service and rebook passengers for the following day.