Man charged in alleged plane hijacking that disrupted YVR operations

A day after a man allegedly commandeered a small plane from Victoria and was arrested on a runway at Vancouver International Airport, a charge has been laid.

The day after a small plane was allegedly commandeered and flown near the Vancouver airport, a suspect has been charged.

Shaheer Cassim is facing one count of hijacking, according to court records. He appeared in Richmond provincial court Wednesday and remains in custody for an assessment.

Hijacking is considered a terrorism offence under the Criminal Code.

In a statement late Wednesday evening, the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) said it had assumed conduct of the investigation, along with RCMP Federal Policing – Pacific Region.

INSET said the 39-year-old Cassim is scheduled to make his next court appearance on Tuesday, July 22.

Police allege that Cassim threatened a flight instructor and successfully took control of a Cessna 172.

“Investigators have determined the suspect acted with an ideological motive to disrupt airspace,” said Sgt. Tammy Lobb, media relations officer with Federal Policing – Pacific Region, in the release.

“Thankfully, no one was injured during this incident.”

Operations at the Vancouver International Airport were briefly disrupted when a small plane began circling nearby on Tuesday afternoon, but the aircraft was landed safely on the tarmac and a suspect was arrested by awaiting RCMP officers.

• Related: U.S. fighter jets scrambled to Vancouver airport during alleged hijacking

An account under the name Shaheer Cassim, identified as a former commercial pilot on Vancouver Island who attended the University of Victoria, posted on social media this week that he was “the messiah sent to save humanity from climate change and usher in an era of world peace.”

“The Arctic sea ice is going to disappear within two years,” he wrote. “When that happens, huge amounts of methane are going to erupt from the Arctic Ocean, triggering abrupt runaway global warming, turning Earth into Venus.”

The post goes on to predict humans will “go extinct” shortly after.

Authorities have not said whether the account belongs to the Shaheer Cassim charged in Tuesday’s hijacking.

• Related: Audio reveals warning to commercial pilots at YVR during alleged hijacking 

Sources said the incident began when someone booked a Cessna tour out of Victoria, then threatened the pilot with a knife before takeoff and stole the aircraft.

The pilot managed to escape just before takeoff, the sources said.

As the aircraft approached the airspace over YVR, the airport ordered a ground stop for arrivals – meaning national and international flights were prevented from taking off for Vancouver – that lasted 39 minutes.

Nine inbound aircraft were diverted to alternate airports during that time.

Pilots already in flight were warned of the rogue Cessna by air traffic controllers, according to audio recordings captured during the tense situation.

“I’m just going to let you know that so you can continue looking out the window,” a controller advises at one point. “Just in case anything starts heading toward you, you have the ability to move at your discretion.”

American F-15 Eagle fighter jets were scrambled toward YVR as the small plane approached the airspace over the airport, according to Norad, the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

The jets were still en route to the airport when the Cessna 172 landed, a Norad spokesperson said.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s St. John Alexander and Todd Coyne