Man charged in alleged security threat on Sunwing flight released on bail

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TORONTO – A 25-year-old man charged in connection with what authorities allege was a security incident on a flight from Toronto to Panama City is being released on $1,000 bail.

Ali Shahi appeared in a Brampton, Ont., court on Saturday.

Sunwing Airlines says its plane turned around about 45 minutes into the flight Friday morning after a passenger allegedly made a “direct threat” to the aircraft.

Two fighter jets from NORAD were dispatched to escort the flight, carrying 183 passengers and a crew of six, back to Toronto’s Pearson airport.

Cellphone video footage from passengers on board that was broadcast on several television networks showed heavily armed SWAT team officers storming aboard the plane to arrest the passenger.

After several hours’ delay, the Sunwing flight took off again for Panama.

Shahi is charged with uttering threats and endangering the safety of an aircraft.

Both CBC and CTV reported that Shahi would undergo a psychiatric assessment at the request of his family.

The television networks quoted his father. (680 News)

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