Detained Canadian airline Crew Back in Canada

Sherrica Thompson

Staff Writer

#Canada, December 7, 2022 – After being detained in the Dominican Republic for eight months and ‘living a nightmare,’ the crew of a Canadian airline, Pivot Airlines has finally returned home to Canada.

The announcement was made by Pivot Airlines in a statement, which revealed that the five-person crew landed in Toronto on Thursday, December 1.

“Earlier this evening, the heroic Pivot Airlines crew arrived safely in Toronto and were reunited with their loved ones.

“The crew has demonstrated incredible courage and resilience throughout the harrowing ordeal which saw them wrongly detained in the Dominican Republic for nearly eight months.  Their steadfast commitment to public safety and the rule of law is a testament to the professionalism of all Canadian air crew,” the company’s statement read.

The airline also noted that it was grateful to everyone who advocated for its crew.

“Pivot Airlines is tremendously grateful to all those who advocated on our crew’s behalf, including CUPE, ALPA, Unifor, Senator David Wells, as well as our government partners,” Pivot Airlines said.

The crew was detained in April of this year after a strange bag was found aboard the aircraft they were on, and they reported it to authorities.  Local police said they eventually found more than 200 kilograms of cocaine aboard the jet.

According to Canadian authorities, the five individuals, two pilots, two flight attendants and one part-time maintenance engineer “were arbitrarily detained, threatened and prosecuted” by Dominican authorities “despite following Transport Canada protocols and international laws.”