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A British Columbia man is facing a sexual assault charge in connection with an alleged incident against another passenger on a Tuesday flight from Calgary to Halifax, according to RCMP.

The 20-year-old man was sitting next to a 69-year-old woman from Nova Scotia on WestJet flight 226 when the alleged incident occurred mid-flight, said Cpl. Greg Church, with the Halifax District RCMP.

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“We know at this point they were both awake, they were sitting side-by-side each other,” Church said, although he declined to elaborate on what allegedly took place.

“When it happened, the victim notified the flight attendant right away. The flight attendant removed the victim from the seat she was in and put her in another part of the plane.”

The woman was not physically injured, Church said.

The flight attendant then alerted the captain, who contacted the RCMP.

When the plane landed at Halifax Stanfield International Airport at around 5:45 p.m., Mounties boarded the plane, arrested the man, and led him off the aircraft in handcuffs, Church said.

He was released from police custody on a promise to appear. His name has not been released at this time as a charge has not yet been laid.

Church said there was a third passenger sitting in the same row as the man and woman and investigators are in the process of conducting interviews.

Robert Palmer, spokesman with WestJet, said there were five crew members and 132 guests on board the Boeing Next Generation 737-700 at the time.

“We are taking this incident extremely seriously and will work closely with investigators as part of the legal processes that will now unfold,” Palmer said in an e-mail.