On New Year’s Eve, an Air Canada (ADH2) aircraft from Calgary (YYC) to Frankfurt (FRA) was delayed for two hours due to the antics of some hockey players.
On December 31, 2021, at 17:45 MST, an Air Canada Boeing 787-9 was scheduled to depart YYC (00:45 UTC, January 1, 2022). Several hockey teams that were scheduled to compete in the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship were among the passengers.
The teams were returning to Europe after the Championship was canceled due to COVID-19.
The Russian hockey players, however, apparently began misbehaving as the airplane was about to take off.
They were attempting to smoke cigarettes, refusing to wear masks, and playing loud music, according to other passengers.
According to the Calgary Herald, the police were contacted and the entire flight was deplaned. The plane ultimately took off at 19:48 MST, according to Radarbox data (2:48 GMT).
Two hours late so far on Calgary to Frankfurt flight. The Russian Juniors team was in back, trying to smoke cigarettes, not wearing masks, not listening to attendants. Cops swarmed the plane. We all had to get off while they and their luggage were removed.
— Dr. Kathleen Scherf (@DrScherf) January 1, 2022
Two teams, however, were denied boarding. Along with the Russians, Czech players were also barred from taking the flight.
DW reports that, according to Czech team manager Otakar Cerny, his team was not misbehaving, but because theirsweatshirts were similar to those of the Russian players, they were thrown “into the same bag as Russians”.
Cerny claims that Air Canada (ADH2) representatives then apologized for the mix-up and offered to pay for a hotel and a flight to Frankfurt.
The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has launched an inquiry into the incident, according to CBC, to see if the Russian team broke the federation’s ethics code.
