Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX en route to Montreal from Arizona forced to make an unscheduled landing in Tucson after engine problem
An Air Canada Boeing 737-8 MAX flying from Arizona to Montreal developed an engine problem that forced it to make an unscheduled landing in Tucson about 80 minutes into the flight.
Three crew members were the only people on board when the plane experienced the engine problem, the airline said Friday.
Shortly after taking off on December 22 the pilots 'received an engine notification and, according to the standard operating procedure for such a situation, they decided to shut down an engine,' Air Canada said in a statement written in French.
An Air Canada Boeing 737-8 MAX flying from Arizona to Montreal had to make an unscheduled stop in Tucson following an engine problem on December 22 (file image)
'The aircraft was rerouted to Tucson, where it landed normally and remains,' Air Canada said, without specifying the nature of the malfunction, which occurred during a non-commercial 'positioning flight.'
According to the Belgian specialist site Aviation24.be, which first reported the emergency landing, the malfunction was due to a drop in hydraulic pressure in the left engine.
The Aviation Herald noted that the crew received the alert about the hydraulic pressure, completed the necessary checklist and decided to continue the flight to Montreal.
A playback of the Air Canada plane's flight path prior to its unscheduled landing Tucson. The Boeing 737-8 MAX had been in a storage facility in Marana Pinal, Arizona, prior to taking off
The plane had three crew members, but no passengers, aboard during the flight. The crew went on to make a safe landing at the Tucson airport (pictured, file image)
But then, the crew received an indication that there was a fuel imbalance from the left hand wing, so they shut down the left engine, declared a PAN-PAN - indicating an urgent, but not immediately dangerous situation - before diverting to a runway in Tucson for a safe landing.
The plane had been in storage in Marana Pinal, Arizona, prior to the flight.
The Canadian government announced in mid-December that it had approved the design changes Boeing made to 737 MAX planes after two crashes that killed 346 people led to the aircraft being grounded.
But the aircraft, purchased by the Canadian airlines Air Canada, Westjet and Sunwing, has not yet been authorized to make commercial flights in Canadian airspace.
The US in mid-November authorized the MAX to fly again, but several modifications will have to be made to the aircraft before it can be returned to service, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Two weeks ago, the Brazilian airline Gol became the first in the world to put the 737 MAX back into service.
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