An Air Canada Boeing Flight AC872 caught fire in mid-air shortly after the takeoff at Toronto Pearson Airpor. The horrifying accident occurred in the evening of June 5. The plane headed for Paris went through a terrible ordeal that almost resulted in disaster.
The event happened when the jet was climbing off the runway, thirty minutes into the flight. According to flight tracker FlightAware, the aircraft left its gate at 8:46 p.m. but had to do a U-turn and land at Toronto Pearson Airport at 9:50 p.m.
The plane’s tail caught fire as a tiny explosion and a light flashed from the right engine, as seen in the widely shared video footage. On the ground, witnesses were in shock; one even cried out, “Holy crap! It’s got an engine fire!” as reported by The Sun.
CP24, a local publication in Canada, reported that none of the 400 passengers or crew members suffered any injuries. By carefully landing the aircraft, the crew prevented what could have been a disastrous situation. “Passengers will be accommodated on another aircraft departing Toronto later tonight,” the airline claimed.
A spokesperson from Air Canada subsequently stated that an engine compressor problem was the cause of the incident. “After the aircraft landed, it was inspected by airport response vehicles as per normal operating processes, and it taxied to the gate on its own,” the representative told CP24. He further added that the aircraft will be taken out of service for further evaluation by their maintenance and engineering professionals.
Boeing 777-300ER aircraft
Nineteen of the Boeing 777-300ER aircraft implicated in this event are still in regular service. The aircraft were acquired by Air Canada in March 2008. Known for its sturdy build, the Boeing 777-300ER has been a reliable aircraft for Air Canada over the years. But these recent incidents have raised concerns about the regular maintenance and inspection procedures for these kinds of aircraft.
In addition to this, another flight on May 27 that was headed for Delhi, India had to divert due to an engine problem that occurred shortly after takeoff.