Air Canada flight from Vancouver makes forced landing

[Bulldog]

Air Canada flight from Vancouver makes forced landing
Joel Kom, Canwest News Service
Published: Sunday, March 23, 2008

CALGARY - For the second time in five days, an Air Canada plane had to make an unexpected stop in Calgary after people on board detected a foul smell.

A Toronto-bound plane that had taken off from Vancouver with 270 passengers plus crew was diverted to Calgary Sunday after one of the flight crew smelled something peculiar.

"They detected an acrid odour in the front galley area," said Air Canada spokesman John Reber, referring to the plane's front kitchen area. The Boeing 777 landed at 2 p.m. Sunday as a "precautionary measure," Reber said, adding the pilot wanted to play it safe and land at the closest major airport.

An inspection was being done on the plane Sunday, while most of the passengers had to wait six hours for Air Canada to dispatch another plane from Toronto to take them the rest of the way. The rest were put on other flights.

Air Canada staff hadn't determined the smell's source as of Sunday evening, he said.

Emergency crews were put on standby when word of the plane's potential problems arose, but they quickly stood down once the plane landed, said airport duty manager Jay Venables. No one on board suffered any health problems, he said.

One passenger who was on the plane said things were fine. "It was just a normal landing, they said we'd have to land in Calgary," said the man, who didn't want his name used.

Sunday's unscheduled landing marked the second time in a week that a smell grounded an Air Canada plane.

An Air Canada flight carrying 291 passengers and crew from Beijing to Toronto landed in Calgary last Tuesday after the pilot smelled an electrical odour, which Reber said then may have been caused by the plane's entertainment system. That plane was also a Boeing 777, though of a different type - the Beijing plane can hold 79 more people.

Air Canada has a dozen of the Boeing 777 planes in its fleet of more than 200 planes, Reber said, adding the airline wasn't concerned by the latest odour.

"It's a very popular plane," Reber said. "We're very pleased with the aircraft. It's performing extremely well."

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