An Air Canada flight enroute to Paris with 389 passengers and 13 crew members caught fire shortly after taking off from Toronto Pearson International Airport on Friday.
The flight crew quickly declared a “PAN-PAN” distress signal, indicating possible assistance needed, and managed to avert a potential disaster by safely returning to the airport without any injuries or casualties.
Superb work by the pilots and their air traffic controllers, dealing with a backfiring engine on takeoff. Heavy plane full of fuel, low cloud thunderstorms, repeated compressor stalls. Calm, competent, professional – well done!
Details: https://t.co/VaJeEdpzcn @AirCanada pic.twitter.com/7aOHyFsR29— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) June 7, 2024
The Boeing 777 aircraft took off at 12:17 am (Toronto time). Just 22 minutes later, at 12:39 am, as the flight was ascending, air traffic controllers (ATC) spotted sparks coming from the plane’s right engine and immediately alerted the crew. The engine malfunction was caught on camera by observers on the ground.
This incident is the latest in a series of problems reported with Boeing aircraft over recent months.
Astronaut Chris Hadfield shared a video on social media showing the aircraft with its engine on fire and praised the pilots and ATC for their handling of the situation.
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He wrote, “Superb work by the pilots and their air traffic controllers, dealing with a backfiring engine on takeoff. Heavy plane full of fuel, low cloud thunderstorms, repeated compressor stalls. Calm, competent, professional – well done!” Hadfield also shared a reconstruction video from YouTube channel ‘You can see ATC’, which included a recording of the pilot’s communication with ATC. The video showed the plane continuing its ascent to 3,000 feet before turning around and returning to Toronto amidst lightning and showers at 2,800 feet.
The ATC cleared Runway 23 for the emergency landing, with fire vehicles on standby. Within four minutes of landing, the aircraft taxied to the gate on its own.
Air Canada issued a statement on social media explaining that a stalled compressor caused the fire. “The aircraft landed normally, and it was met by first responder vehicles as a precaution before it taxied to the gate on its own.” The airline also noted that passengers were accommodated on another flight later that evening.
