Canada10 August, 20262 min read
Porter Airlines Cancels PD444 After Child Refuses to Buckle Seatbelt at Victoria International Airport
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Porter Airlines PD444 canceled after child stood on seat and refused seatbelt. Plane returned to the terminal, missing runway closure and delaying passengers overnight.
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Porter flight PD444 canceled
A Porter Airlines flight in Canada was canceled after a young child refused to sit down and buckle up, forcing the aircraft to return to the terminal and delaying it past Victoria International Airport’s runway closure. The incident involved Porter Airlines flight PD444, which had left the terminal at Victoria International Airport in British Columbia and was heading for the runway when crew members saw a child “standing in their seat and would not secure their seatbelt.”
Porter said “Attempts by the accompanying parent and crew to address this were unsuccessful,” and the aircraft “could not take off in this unsafe condition,” so the crew returned to the terminal and had passengers disembark. The delay was tied to timing at YYJ, where the runway closes at 12:30 a.m., and the time required to bridge the aircraft, remove the parent and child, retrieve baggage, and refile paperwork meant the flight could not depart before the closure.
Apologies, frustration, and quotes
Porter apologized to other passengers, and Brad Cicero, a spokesperson for the Toronto-based airline, said the airline “We apologise for the effect this had on other passengers, who were able to depart on a flight the following day.” CBC Toronto reported that passenger Aryeh Kozuch said there was “a lot of frustration,” but that the child “wasn’t being bratty or uncontrollable — rather, they were very scared,” adding, “They just kept hiding under their seat.”
Hillary Hertzberg told CBC that “It took forever,” and said the child “eventually got off the plane at 11:30 [p.m.], so we had been on the flight for about almost an hour at that point.” The same CBC report said some passengers had to scramble for a room at a hotel after the cancellation, and Hertzberg said she wants Porter to compensate passengers’ expenses while Porter would not say if it will do so.
Rebooking and flight timing
Porter confirmed that passengers were rebooked on a flight the following day, and the AP report said the parent and child were removed along with their baggage, which delayed the Toronto-bound flight past the airport’s 12:30 a.m. runway closure. The New York Times reported that the new flight departed from Victoria International Airport at 10:49 p.m. local time on Friday and arrived in Toronto at 6:16 a.m. local time the next day, citing FlightAware.com.
Fox News Digital said the flight was expected to leave Victoria International Airport at 10:30 p.m. and had begun taxiing when a flight attendant noticed the child, and it said the airport’s takeoff curfew of 12:30 a.m. contributed to the cancellation. Multiple outlets tied the cancellation to the need to complete steps after returning to the terminal, including disembarking passengers and refile flight plans and other paperwork, with Porter stating the runway closure at 12:30 a.m. made it too late to depart.