A Vancouver Island man says a Flair airlines flight took off without removing the baggage of no-show passengers, something he said flies in the face of accepted airline safety procedures.
“If somebody had a malicious intent, they could put a bomb onboard,” Karl Fellenius told Glacier Media.
The Sidney, B.C., man said his daughter and her boyfriend were on an Aug. 13 Flair flight from Edmonton to Victoria but missed the plane despite having checked in.
Fellenius said they expected the bags would have been removed in Edmonton, where they could have retrieved them. But when the couple went to get their bags, they were told the luggage had proceeded to Victoria and is now missing, Fellenius said.
When the Vancouver Island man inquired about the apparent breach in security protocols, airline staff told him it isn't policy to remove bags belonging to passengers who haven't boarded an aircraft, Fellenius said.
The man said he is coming forward to inform the public the airline doesn’t have a policy to ensure luggage isn't flying without its passenger aboard.
“I was astonished this would be their practice,” Fellenius said.
Safety and security 'top priority'
In an email, Transport Canada spokesperson Sau Sau Liu told Glacier Media the department requires airlines to match bags to flying passengers.
“These requirements are subject to certain conditions and exceptions; however, for security reasons, details regarding the application of these requirements and exceptions cannot be disclosed,” Liu said.
The spokesperson said the safety and security of the transportation system is Transport Canada's top priority. She added all checked baggage must be screened by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority using “state-of-the-art equipment.”
“In addition, there are requirements in place for airlines with respect to matching checked baggage with passengers on board flights,” Liu said.
In an emailed statement to Glacier Media, a Flair spokesperson said passenger safety is its highest priority.
"We are sorry for any inconvenience that may have been caused," the spokesperson said.
"Our team is actively investigating the situation to gain a comprehensive understanding of what transpired," the statement said. "The vast majority of Flair customers have a great experience with the airline, and we are fully committed to finding the best possible solution to address customer concerns when they arise."
B.C. terror attack
Part of the reason airlines around the world require checked baggage to be unloaded if the passenger fails to board the airplane comes from tragedy that unfolded nearly 40 years ago.
The 1985 Air India bombings involved two bags checked onto flights heading from Vancouver to Tokyo’s Narita airport and London’s Heathrow airport via Toronto and Montreal.
The passengers who checked the bags were not on the flights. Two men had bought the tickets in downtown Vancouver for the flights. The bags were checked in but no matching passenger boarded.
Two baggage handlers were killed at Narita when one bomb exploded. Not long after, the second bomb exploded onboard an Air India 747 off the coast of Ireland, killing all 329 people aboard in what remains the deadliest terrorist attack in Canadian history.
Inderjit Singh Reyat was convicted of making the bombs. Ajaib Singh Bagri and Ripudaman Singh Malik were acquitted in the alleged conspiracy after an 18-month-long trial in Vancouver.
It was suspected the bombings were the work of the now-banned Babbar Khalsa terrorist organization that advocates for a Sikh state of Khalistan in India's Punjab region.
