Video: Air Canada plane catches fire after takeoff, lands safely
The Boeing 777 plane, carrying 389 passengers and 13 crew members, caught fire in one of its engines shortly after takeoff from Toronto Pearson International Airport.
An Air Canada plane bound for Paris carrying 389 passengers and 13 crew members caught fire minutes after takeoff from Toronto Pearson International Airport on Friday.
Following the incident, the crew immediately gave a “pan-pan” distress signal, indicating a possible need for assistance. Fortunately, the plane managed to return safely to the airport and no casualties or injuries were reported.
The Boeing 777 wide-body aircraft began flying at 12:17 a.m. (Toronto time). At 12:39 a.m., while the plane was still climbing, air traffic control (ATC) noticed sparks coming from the right engine.
The malfunction was immediately reported to the flight crew, who handled the situation efficiently. The engine failure was captured on video by observers on the ground, which later went viral on social media.
It is noteworthy that astronaut Chris Hadfield also shared a video of the burning engine and praised the pilots and ATC for handling the situation excellently.
Hadfield’s video as well as a reconstruction created on YouTube by ‘You Can See ATC’ depict the plane’s flight path. The video showed that the plane was at an altitude of 1,000 feet when the pilots became aware of the smoke and fire.
Despite challenges such as low clouds and storms, the pilots maintained control and flew at an altitude of 3,000 feet before returning to Toronto.
ATC eased the emergency by clearing runway 23 for landing, as well as placing fire fighting vehicles on standby. The aircraft landed smoothly and continued taxiing within four minutes.
Later, Air Canada also issued a statement saying that the engine fire was caused by a compressor failure.
“The aircraft landed normally and was greeted by a first response vehicle as a precaution, after which it drove itself to the gate,” the statement said.
This recent incident is the latest in a series of incidents involving Boeing aircraft over the past few months.
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