Vancouver mistakes Air Canada advertising stunt for fighter jet escort

The sight of an Air Canada plane being escorted by a fighter jet over Vancouver on Monday caused concern among local skywatchers.

And it wasn’t long before they took to social media to question what exactly it was they were seeing.

#yvr why the fighter jet escort?? pic.twitter.com/n6EQsmohLC

— Paul Andol (@paulandol) May 30, 2017

Fighter jet escorting an @AirCanada flight over downtown Vancouver tonight? pic.twitter.com/mGfatfznSr

— Stuart Hamre (@stuart_hamre) May 30, 2017

Commercial Jet followed by fighter jet over Downtown Vancouver https://t.co/J6qFvDUBp9

— Kyle Bryan (@KyleBryan) May 30, 2017

Interesting. A #fighterjet escorting a commercial airliner back to #yvr @NEWS1130 @CBC @BBCBreaking pic.twitter.com/xC01lxjOOv

— Himanshu K. (@reallyhk) May 30, 2017

Plane being escorted over vancouver? What’s happening? @yvrairport pic.twitter.com/QPjxwJOgU8

— PD Krause (@PDKCan) May 30, 2017

But as it turns out, the sighting was all part of an advertising project by Air Canada.

The company did tweet a heads-up about the event beforehand.

You may see WolfeAir’s #LearJet & our #B787 today around beautiful BC as we do some filming from the air. #AC7169 #FlyTheFlag @yvrairport pic.twitter.com/APpqGyMEOD

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) May 30, 2017

Afterwards, they even offered a recap of sorts on how the day went.

Thanks for sharing all of your pictures today. Here is one of our favourite #B787 #Dreamliner shots! #FlyTheFlag #AC7169 @yvrairport pic.twitter.com/33A1vq7MTt

— Air Canada (@AirCanada) May 30, 2017