India-bound flight diverted back to Toronto due to unruly passenger

TORONTO – An Alberta man was charged Wednesday after a flight attendant was injured aboard an Air Canada flight en route to India, forcing the plane to return to Toronto.

The airline said the Boeing 787-8 was carrying 232 passengers when it took off from Toronto for Delhi on Tuesday evening.

The plane had to turn around about two and a half hours into the flight due to an “incident involving a disruptive passenger,” a spokesman said.

“A flight attendant sustained injuries requiring medical treatment,” said Peter Fitzpatrick. “Police met the aircraft after it landed about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday.”

Peel Regional Police said a man had allegedly assaulted the flight attendant around 12:42 a.m. when the flight was over the Atlantic Ocean, just off the East Coast.

They say the 47-year-old was “belligerent” at the time, but was arrested without incident when the plane landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Jaskaran Sidhu was charged with assault causing bodily harm, endangering the safety of an aircraft and two counts of mischief.

He was set to appear in a Brampton, Ont., court on Wednesday.

The aircraft’s diversion back to Toronto marked the second delay for passengers on the flight.

Poor weather had prompted Air Canada to postpone the flight earlier on Tuesday, shortly after it made it to the runway.

A rescheduled flight was scheduled to leave Toronto for Delhi at noon Wednesday.