A CF-18, F-15 and a refueling tanker aren’t typical sights in the skies over a city like Calgary.
Many local residents immediately took notice of unusual activity on Monday afternoon, sharing photos and videos on social media of military jets roaring over the city.
Later, North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) confirmed that it had responded to reports of bomb threats aboard three commercial passenger flights from Germany bound for the Calgary International Airport.
Military aircraft scrambled to escort the planes safely to their destination with NORAD confirming to CBC News that the planes landed “without incident” after the threats were determined to be not credible.
So, how exactly does an American military aircraft respond so quickly to a security threat in Canada?
Rob Huebert, director of the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military, Security and Strategic Studies, said NORAD’s response was well practiced, well developed, and a significant result of cooperation between Canada and the U.S. — dating back to the Cold War.
In September 1957, Canada and the U.S. signed an agreement to create NORAD, centralising operational control of air defences and making North American aerospace, essentially, “one big unit.”
“Back in the days when we were facing the threat of Soviet bombers, you needed to be able to respond over the distance and you didn’t have the time or the luxury to really be trying to work out whose permission do you need?”
According to Huebert, in a situation like Monday’s bomb threats, NORAD would surveil and coordinate a response with specific air forces.
The bi-national organization is “completely integrated” with the Canadian Forces Base Cold Lake in Alberta and Elmendorf Air Force Base in Achorange, Alaska, Huebert explained.
Once NORAD is involved, the commander in charge assesses what assets they have, for example, where military aircraft are located. Then, the commander would designate them to coordinate a response, according to Huebert.
“Is it criminal? Was it a threat? Was it real? All of that will then be determined. What is the best agency that then can take over? Is it Canadian, is it American?”
In the case of Monday’s incident in Calgary, both a Canadian CF-18 and an American F-15 were deployed.
“You don’t have to worry about, okay, is this Canadian space and do we have to get the diplomatic clearance for American aircraft?” Huebert said.
“Those types of questions take a very long time in some instances, and so by eliminating that you get a much more quicker ability to respond to what is the real nature of the threats.”
‘NORAD did its job’: Defence minister responds to Calgary airport bomb threats
On Tuesday, Canada’s Minister of National Defense David McGuinty told reporters, “NORAD did its job and it did it very, very well.
“Fighter jets were scrambled. There was a bomb threat, I understand. The RCMP is now in charge of the file. They have taken control of the situation and all seems to be fine, but I think it’s important for us to remember that this bi-national command and the system at NORAD worked for us very, very well.”
Prime Minister Mark Carney also applauded the reaction from NORAD, posting to X Monday night, “Grateful to @NORADcommand for their swift responses and coordination to protect our skies, and ensure the safety and security of Canadians at all times.”
Christian Leuprecht, professor at the Royal Military College at Queen’s University, said in this case, a bomb threat against a plane would be a criminal offence under Canada’s Criminal Code, making the RCMP the lead agency in the investigation.
“The efforts will now be used to try to ascertain where did that threat originate? And is there a prospect of, on the one hand, gathering enough evidence to actually identify that threat?” he said.
“Is there enough prospect to actually arrest that individual, and follow up on that threat? Sometimes… we [can identify] those individuals, but they’re in jurisdictions where we can’t get our hands on them. And sometimes in jurisdictions where, once we identify them, we can ultimately arrest individuals.
“And so that will require significant international coordination.”
