Passengers stranded overnight after toddler refuses to buckle seatbelt before takeoff
Passengers were left facing an unexpected overnight stay after a toddler refused to buckle their seatbelt before a flight was due to take off.
The disruption unfolded on Porter Airlines flight PD444, which was travelling from Victoria International Airport in British Columbia to Toronto on Thursday (Aug. 6).
By that stage, the aircraft’s doors had been closed, and the plane had already moved away from the terminal.
For those on board, it looked as though their journey across Canada was about to get underway as planned. Instead, the plane never made it into the air, and what began as a last-minute problem inside the cabin ultimately left the rest of the passengers stuck in Victoria until the following day.
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According to Porter Airlines (who emailed CTV News), cabin crew realised whilst the aircraft was heading towards the runway that a young child was standing on their seat rather than being safely secured.
The airline said: “A young child was standing in their seat and would not secure their seatbelt”
The child’s parent and members of the cabin crew both tried to buckle them in, but their attempts were unsuccessful.
With takeoff no longer possible under those circumstances, the aircraft was turned around.
Porter explained: “The aircraft could not take off in this unsafe condition, so the crew elected to return to the terminal and have the passengers disembark.”
That might ordinarily have resulted in a delay rather than an overnight cancellation, but the timing quickly became the bigger problem.
Not only was time needed to get the child and their parent off the aircraft with their belongings, but staff also needed to refile flight plans and complete other necessary paperwork. By the time all of that had been dealt with, it had gone beyond 12.30am.
Victoria International Airport’s runway closes for the night at that time, meaning flight PD444 could no longer depart and everyone else on board was forced to remain in the city.
Porter subsequently apologised ‘for the effect this had on other passengers’ and confirmed those affected would be able to travel on a flight on Friday — after needing to spend the night in Victoria, instead of what should have been a straightforward cross-country journey.
It might not have been as alarming as when a flight was canceled after a woman had 'severe diarrhea' (or when a plane wing’s bolts were spotted missing), but it was surely a frustrating ordeal for any set of passengers to go through.
Ben Williams