It was a tense flight for another plane full of WestJet passengers Tuesday night in Saskatoon.
Flight 323 from Toronto landed in the city after a bomb threat was called in to the Saskatoon Airport Authority.
Depesh Parmar and 112 other passengers, as well as five crew, landed safely in the city.
“We were pretty anxious to get home, and when we hit the ground the plane came to a stop and the captain came [on] the microphone there and said he had just been notified that there is a bomb threat on the plane and that until further notice we should just keep calm,” he said.
“It kind of just stopped at that.”
Waiting was the worst part, says passenger
Parmar said the wait to get off the plane was the worst part.
“I was like ‘Okay, this can’t be real’,” Parmar said of the experience, “But then you sit there and think and realize this is kind of scary.”
Parmar explained the 20 or so minutes he spent on the plane were anxious ones.
“I need to get off this plane, you see these types of things in movies and you don’t actually realize that someday you could be in that very, particular situation,” he said.
“You know, we were at the back of the plane right, where I was seated, so they were evacuating one by one, at that very moment I kind of wished I was at the front of the plane so I could get off right away.”
Parmar said he and others on the plane remained calm. According to Parmar, only one passenger, who was worried about his cat, was visibly stressed out by the situation.
“The captain did come on and say [he] could take his cat,” he explained.
No explosives on board
Saskatoon police have determined there were no explosives on Flight 323 from Toronto to Saskatoon.
Tuesday night’s situation marks the third WestJet plane to be threatened in less than a week.
Parmar said the ordeal delayed his return home by about three hours. He also said he plans to fly again.
“I can’t give enough kudos to the Saskatoon Police, Fire Department, airport, WestJet and MD Ambulance for just ensuring our safety was number one,” he said. “For that, we are very appreciative.
Police said the investigation is continuing. There have been no arrests.
In a statement to CBC News, Robert Palmer with Calgary-based WestJet said, “We understand and appreciate the interest in the story. We’ve said all we can say at this point and will leave matters in the hands of police as it is now an active criminal investigation.”