Canadian airline crew, including Hamilton pilot, to be freed seven months after arrest in Dominican Republic
A Canadian airline crew forced to stay in the Dominican Republic for seven months after reporting a cache of drugs aboard their aircraft is finally on the verge of coming home.
The five-member Pivot Airlines crew - which includes Hamilton native Aatif Safdar - were arrested April 5 after a flight technician alerted Punta Cana authorities to what turned out to be 210 kilos of cocaine stashed inside their Toronto-bound chartered plane.
On Friday, local authorities filed paperwork in a Punta Cana court to release the crew after spending 220 days in jail and under house arrest, said Pivot Airlines CEO Eric Edmondson.
We are deeply relieved that these five Canadians will soon return home to the families and loved ones," Edmondson said in a statement. We are grateful for their courage, resilience and honestly throughout this devastating ordeal."
Edmondson said the paperwork filed Friday is still pending final court sign-off, but begins a process that will grant the crew the necessary approvals to fly home. But given the considerable, unforeseen delays the case has previously faced, Edmondson added there is not yet a timeline for the workers' return. He urged Dominican Republic authorities to work quickly on the matter.
Following the contraband discovery, the crew members - two pilots, two flight attendants and a part-time maintenance engineer - were held in jail for several days and then released on bail after surrendering their passports pending further investigation. They were never charged or questioned by police, according to Pivot.
Several unions representing the crew said their members were arbitrarily detained, threatened and prosecuted despite following Transport Canada protocols and international laws.
One crew member - licensed pilot Aatif Safdar - was found not guilty of assault after being on trial for 15 months in Hamilton in 2018 along with his brother, Adeel Safdar, a once-renowned McMaster University scientist and their mother, Shaheen Safdar. The three were accused of confining, torturing and abusing Adeel's wife.
Adeel was found guilty of aggravated assault and is serving four years in prison. Aatif and Shaheen Safdar were found not guilty of assault bodily harm, assault with a weapon and threatening death.
Safdar appeared in a video alongside his fellow crew members in June, where they begged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to lobby Dominican officials for their release. Safdar stared straight into the camera as his colleagues spoke of the threats, extortion and inhumane and humiliating" living conditions they experienced while in custody.
Edmondson said Friday the crew members will be returning as heroes" upon their arrival back in Canada.
-With files from Canadian Press
Sebastian Bron is a reporter at The Spectator. sbron@thespec.com