A WestJet flight bound for Edmonton from Halifax was diverted to Saskatoon on Saturday morning following a bomb threat.

The South Bruce Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) received the threat about an alleged explosive device that had been placed on WestJet flight 391, shortly after 9:00 a.m.

Police in Saskatoon said in a news release that the force's bomb disposal unit responded to John Diefenbaker Airport after a threat was made about an explosive device on a plane that left Halifax.

WestJet spokesman Robert Palmer said there were 147 passengers and a crew of six aboard the Boeing 737-800 that was diverted at around 9:30 a.m. CST.

The plane landed safely and that all passengers and crew were safely removed from the aircraft, according to the release.

CTV News spoke with the Kincardine airport manager, Blake Evans, on Sunday.

He was the one who answered the threat call.

“It started off as an average day but that quickly changed,” said Evans.

Evans said the call came from an unknown phone number, and lasted for about four minutes.

He said the caller wasn’t in a panic, and hung up shortly after providing details of the threat.

Kelsie Fraser, a spokesperson for the Saskatoon police, said on Saturday afternoon that passengers were still being interviewed by investigators at the airport.

"Once they're finished being interviewed, they're released back into the care of WestJet," Fraser said.

WestJet said passengers were provided with food and water while police investigated and that they were expected to reach their final destinations later in the day.

"First thing that came into my mind was that there was probably a threat with luggage or something that didn't pass. I was thinking bomb but hey," said a passenger.

"I was just hoping that we would make it. That everything would be found out and taken care of before a disaster happened," said another passenger.

The aircraft remained sitting on the sun-baked tarmac away from the terminal with the baggage still on board through the afternoon, but police agreed to remove a pet carrier containing two cats.

South Bruce OPP are investigating the call, working to figure out who made it and why.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact police.

 

Written with files from The Canadian Press.