UA 1104 ANC - DEN diverted to YVR [Security concern]
 

http://www.yvr.ca/en/flight-informat...formation.aspx

United Airlines Flight Diversion Information

January 09, 2016

United Airlines flight 1104 from Anchorage, Alaska to Denver, Colorado was diverted to Vancouver International Airport (YVR) this morning due to a security concern. The aircraft landed safely at 4:16 a.m. PST on Monday, January 9, 2016.

RCMP is responding. There is no impact to flight operations at YVR.
The aircraft remains at YVR and passengers have been moved into the terminal for processing.



The last time I checked, today is a Saturday...but still, not quite sure yet what the issue was for the plane to divert.

I'm at YVR now and did note a UA aircraft parked away from the terminal in a holding area. There was a 7:45 am departure to DEN and a 6:45 am departure to ORD which might have accommodated some of the pax. But I'll bet there are others still waiting to continue onward.

It's a beautiful day to be stuck in Vancouver, at least.

If passengers did get put on those flights it would have been without their luggage.
The pilots left the plane about an hour ago.
Some of the baggage is still at the plane.

But these people are stuck in Richmond...

Per the story: Police took a suspect into custody, according to a Twitter message from the RCMP in Richmond, British Columbia

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...r-suspect-held

i'll make an assumption that the reason for diversion was relatively serious, as the process would be much simpler if they flew an extra few minutes to SEA to keep everything domestic.

I hope UA is going after these nutters for cost recovery.

How do they process these pax for immigration purposes when entering Canada? It says they were accommodated in a hotel. I almost certainly would not be carrying my passport on a flight from ANC to DEN.

US citizens do not technically need a passport to enter Canada. However they do need something proves they are a US citizen (birth certificate, naturalization certificate, etc - things you obviously also wouldn't be likely to take with you on a domestic flight).

Given that they landed at an airport that has US Immigration staff on-site (due to pre-clearance) I'm sure they would have had little trouble confirming the identity/citizenship of anyone on the flight.

Anyone that wasn't a US citizen/PR likely would have had their passport, however even if they didn't and/or if they would have needed a visa to enter Canada then there are procedures that can be followed to allow them into the country regardless. In Canada that would likely involve the issuing of a "Visitor Record" which would allow entry to the country for as little as a day.