Vancouver Airport Temporarily Halts Flights Amid Security Incident

‘Rogue’ Cessna 172 departed from the Canadian facility before circling near Vancouver for over half an hour.

Caleb Revill

Wednesday, July 16, 2025 at 04:27 PM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Travis Tingle

Cessna 172 [Credit: Cessna]

Key Takeaways:

Vancouver International Airport (YVR) temporarily halted all arriving flights for 39 minutes due to a security incident involving a small private aircraft.
The incident was later identified as a stolen Cessna 172, which circled north of the airport and was referred to as "hijacked" by air traffic control.
The aircraft landed safely, and the lone occupant was arrested, though the event caused numerous flight delays and diversions before the airport resumed normal operations.

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The Vancouver International Airport (CYVR) temporarily grounded all flights for arriving aircraft after a small private aircraft taking off began circling about 40 miles north.

The Canadian airport notified the public of a security incident that took place on Tuesday in a news release. While the facility didn’t specify what occurred, it did state that the Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) responded and arrivals were halted for 39 minutes.