Canadian flight crew could be sent back to jail in Dominican Republic: airline

A Canadian flight crew could be sent back to jail in the Dominican Republic as soon as Tuesday amid an ongoing case involving packages of presumed cocaine found onboard an aircraft they were operating, the airline says.

In a letter sent to Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, Pivot Airlines CEO Eric Edmondson appealed to the government to do more to intervene.

“We are reaching out to you to request your urgent assistance in ensuring the safe return of the Canadian aircrew being wrongfully held in the Dominican Republic,” Edmondson wrote.

“For more than 24 days, our crew has been subject to threats against their lives, inhumane treatment, and arbitrary detention, for dutifully reporting a crime and averting a potential aviation disaster. We are deeply concerned for their safety and are pleading with you to intervene so they may return home to their families.”

Edmondson said that on April 5 while conducting a commercial charter, the crew discovered suspected contraband in a maintenance compartment and “immediately reported” it.

“Despite following Transport Canada approved policies and international laws, the crew were immediately detained by local authorities,” the letter said.

The aircraft was set to fly from Punta Cana to Toronto, Dominican officials said.

In an April 6 press release, the National Directorate for Drug Control said nine Canadians, one person from India and another from the Dominican Republic were “being questioned to determine their possible involvement.”

The flight crew was detained but later released on bail, which Edmondson said the prosecutor is appealing.