Child refusing to buckle up forces Porter Airlines to cancel Victoria-to-Toronto flight
A small child's refusal to fasten a seatbelt forced Porter Airlines to cancel flight PD444 from Victoria, British Columbia to Toronto on August 6, stranding passengers overnight after the runway closed.
Incident on the tarmac
Porter Airlines flight PD444 was scheduled to depart Victoria International Airport in British Columbia for Toronto Pearson on Thursday, August 6, 2026. Sources give differing scheduled departure times: most cite 22:30 local time, while Der Tagesspiegel and Spiegel Online report 23:03. The route is a daily service with a flight time of roughly four and a half hours, according to Spiegel Online. The aircraft had already left the terminal and was taxiing toward the runway when cabin crew noticed a small child standing on their seat and refusing to fasten their seatbelt. According to passenger testimony cited by Czech outlet Blesk, the child was jumping on the seat. Both the child's accompanying parent and the flight attendants attempted to buckle the child, but neither succeeded. A Porter Airlines source told People magazine that despite the attempts, the child would not stop moving.
Return to terminal and cancellation
Faced with what the airline called unsafe conditions, the crew decided to return the aircraft to the terminal. All passengers disembarked via a jet bridge, and the baggage of the child and accompanying adult was unloaded from the hold. The process of redefining the flight route, completing paperwork, and reorganizing the departure stretched past 0:30 AM local time. Most sources state that Victoria's runway closes at 0:30 AM, making further operations impossible that night. Spiegel Online, however, reports a closure time of 23:30. With the departure window exhausted, the flight was cancelled outright.
The aircraft could not take off under these unsafe conditions, therefore the crew decided to return to the terminal and let the passengers disembark.
Passengers stranded overnight
The cancellation left passengers stranded at Victoria airport overnight. The aircraft had 132 seats, according to official information cited by Der Tagesspiegel. Social media posts suggested roughly 100 passengers were affected, though the exact number was not confirmed by the airline. Porter Airlines rebooked passengers on flights the following day. According to the industry portal FlightAware, cited by Der Tagesspiegel, the rescheduled flight PD444 departed Victoria on Friday evening and arrived in Toronto on Saturday morning shortly after 6:15 AM. The Italian outlet Open, however, reported that the flight departed in the afternoon of the following day.
- Flight PD444 scheduled to depart Victoria for Toronto (some sources cite 23:03)
- Aircraft leaves terminal; crew notices child standing on seat, refusing seatbelt
- Crew returns aircraft to gate; all passengers disembark, baggage unloaded
- Formalities completed past 0:30 AM; runway closed, flight cancelled
- Passengers rebooked on Friday flights by Porter Airlines
- Rescheduled flight arrives in Toronto Saturday morning, shortly after 6:15 AM
Airline response and public debate
Porter Airlines spokesperson Brad Cicero issued an apology for the disruption.
We apologize for the impact this had on the other passengers, who were able to depart on a flight the following day.
The child and their family were not identified, and the child's exact age was not disclosed. Media outlets variously described the child as a toddler or a young child. The incident drew discussion on the platform X, where users questioned why all passengers had to disembark rather than only the child and accompanying adult. No information has been released about whether the parent faces any consequences. Porter Airlines confirmed to CTV News that passengers were able to depart on Friday.
