Flight cancelled after child refused to sit down and fasten seatbelt

( Yahoo )

A flight was cancelled in Canada after a child refused to sit down and fasten their seatbelt.

The flight, from Victoria International Airport in British Columbia to Toronto Pearson International Airport, had left the terminal and was taxiing towards the runway when it was forced to turn around on Thursday.

The child was "standing in their seat and would not secure their seatbelt", the airline said.

The parent and cabin crew repeatedly tried to secure the child in their seat but were unsuccessful.

The Porter Airlines flight PD444 was forced to turn around and return to the gate so the family could disembark and their luggage could be removed.

The remaining passengers on the 132-seat plane were also forced to disembark while flight plans were refiled and paperwork completed. The delay meant that the flight was cancelled because the runway had closed at 12.30am.

'A lot of frustration'

It is unclear how old the child was or how many passengers were on board the aircraft.

The airline apologised to passengers and said they had been rebooked on a flight the next day.

Aryeh Kozuch, a passenger on the plane, said there was "a lot of frustration" on board.

He told CBC: "[The child] just kept hiding under their seat. If they got forced into [being] strapped in, they just kind of slid out underneath."

Hillary Hertzberg, another passenger, said "it took forever", adding that the airline should cover passengers' expenses from the incident.

In a statement, Porter Airlines said: "Attempts by the accompanying parent and crew to address [the child] were unsuccessful."

The airline added: "The aircraft could not take off in this unsafe condition, so the crew elected to return to the terminal and have the passengers disembark."

The time required "to bridge the aircraft, deplane the passengers in question, retrieve their baggage, refile flight plans and other paperwork meant that it was too late to depart" owing to the runway closure, according to the airline.

A spokesman for Victoria International Airport confirmed that the flight had been cancelled because of the airport's "scheduled airfield closure".