F16 fighter jets scrambled after 'passenger threatens to blow up plane in duty free row'

Two F16 fighter jets were scrambled to escort a passenger plane after a man on board threatened to blow it up.

The jets flew up to join Sunwing Airlines flight 772 as a "precaution" less than an hour after it took off from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport bound for Panama City.

Video shot by a passenger showed armed Canadian law enforcement officers shouting "heads down, hands up" as they stormed aboard the aircraft in helmets and tactical gear after it was escorted back to Toronto.

Toronto’s City News quoted one passenger as saying the suspect became angry after learning that the duty-free items he wanted were not for sale.

Manjo Chopra, who was also on board, said he thought the altercation began over a purchase.

"I think it was about buying something, he didn't have the right card and that's what triggered it.”

Sharon Ramsay, who was a passenger on the flight, told Sky News: "The pilot came on and said there was a threat and they had to take it seriously and turn around and we're heading back to Toronto, so that's what happened.

"We came back and waited on the tarmac for about an hour and then the task force came in, they stormed in. It was extremely scary.

"They came in the front and back of the plane and they yelled hands up, heads down, hands up, heads down and it was just awful."

Local media said a 25-year-old Canadian man was arrested on suspicion of threatening the aircraft.

-The Mirror