One of Air Canada’s longest flights landed a lot earlier than expected after the plane was diverted due to a strange smell being detected on board.
Flight AC40 was due to take off from Auckland, New Zealand at 2pm local time on Tuesday, 13 January for a 12 and a half hour flight to Vancouver, Canada, one of Air Canada’s longest routes.
After an hour delay, the Boeing 787 took off from Auckland, but only made it as far as the Coromandel Peninsula before making a large U-turn.
The flight continued to circle the air, up to Great Barrier Island and down to the Waitākere Ranges mountains before landing back at Auckland Airport just after 4pm after only being in the air for an hour.
Just seven minutes into the flight, the pilots reported an “unusual odour” in the cockpit and declared an emergency.
After circling the Hauraki Gulf, the plane landed safely back at Auckland airport.
Circling in the sky, or being held in a holding pattern, is standard procedure when long-haul flights have to make an unexpected landing. The practice burns off fuel, reducing the plane’s weight and thus making it safer to land.
An Air Canada spokesperson told Simple Flying that the flight returned to Auckland out of an abundance of caution after the odour was detected by the pilots.
"The aircraft landed normally and has been taken offline for an inspection by maintenance and technical professionals. We are making arrangements for passengers to be rebooked to their final destination,” the airline said on Tuesday.
It is not uncommon for flights to make emergency landings due to strange smells. Last month, a transatlantic flight leaving London was cut short after a “burning smell” was noticed on board, causing an emergency landing in Edinburgh.
United Airlines flight UA949 left Heathrow airport just after 2pm on Thursday, 4 December, for a 10-hour flight to San Francisco.
After the Boeing 777 left London, it flew northward over the UK towards Iceland. Around an hour and a half into the flight, the plane made a U-turn back towards Scotland after issuing an emergency “squawk 7700” code.
The United flight made an unexpected landing at Edinburgh airport at around 4.30pm after the crew detected the smell.
The Independent has contacted Air Canada for comment.
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