Shaheer Cassim, who was arrested after entering without authorization in the airspace of Vancouver International Airport on Tuesday was accused of embezzlement of plane, which would constitute a terrorist activity, confirms the Criminal Prosecution Service of Canada.
The offender, born in 1986, appeared in court and was placed in pre -trial detention for an evaluation.
The incursion of Cessna 172 also arouses questions from aviation professionals.
According to Mehran Ebrahimi, the director of the International Observatory for Aeronautics and Civil Aviation and Professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal, such incidents are rare, but can occur: This is something that happens depending on countries, safety measures and, sometimes, in regions where there are a lot of piloting schools.
Tuesday afternoon, the small plane left the Victoria aviation club and went to Vancouver, paralyzing for around forty minutes the activities of Vancouver International Airport. Nine flights to Vancouver have been confused to other airports.
Shaheer Cassim was arrested at landing.
Unknown motivations for the moment
The Royal Canada Gendarmerie investigates the event and few details have been communicated.
The president of the Victoria aviation club Colin Williamson confirms that the arrested man was not a member of the club. We are very cautious about who can access a plane. The doors you see are locked, they are equipped with codes. Authorized pilots need a code, we do not communicate it to anyone else
he explains, pointing out the reserved space of the club.
So no, [le pilote] Not just entered like that.
The Victoria aviation club, which has existed since 1946, offers piloting training, black flights and maintenance activities, among others.
In 80 years, nothing like this has ever happened. So we are all a little surprised. To say the least we can say
adds Colin Williamson.
Several police vehicles surrounded the plane when it landed in Vancouver on Tuesday in the early afternoon.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Ethan Cairns
An adequate interruption
When we identify a device that we do not know, that we have no communication, which is around a commercial airport, we stop everything – arrivals, departures – and we do not start until the situation was warned by the authorities
explains John Gradek, manager of teaching and coordinator at the aviation management programs and management of the supply chain at McGill University.
The Canadian Armed Forces also confirmed that F-15 aircraft of the Aerospace Defense Command of North America (NORAD) were called upon around 1:30 p.m. Pacific time on Tuesday.
The civilian pilot set the plane at Vancouver International Airport before the hunters of NORAD intercept the general aviation plane
said Jennie Derenzis, public relations agent of the Canadian Armed Forces.
According to John Gradek, the main question arises at the access point. How did the person had access to an aircraft in Victoria?
he said.
Mehran Ebrahimi abounds in the same direction: It can happen, but there, we went too far by ignoring several security barriers.
With information from Dominique Lévesque and the program Western light