air canada flight

Flight with 290 passengers reports 'multiple failures' on approach to Toronto airport

Emergency vehicles were forced to meet an Air Canada flight that landed at Toronto Pearson Airport earlier this month after "multiple failures" onboard the aircraft. 

According to a reconstruction video by the aviation YouTube channel, You can see ATC, the incident involved Air Canada flight AC935 from Punta Cana International Airport to Toronto on April 8 at approximately 6:50 p.m. 

During the descent towards Toronto, pilots declared PAN-PAN, a term used in radiotelephone communications to signify that there is an urgency on board a boat, ship, aircraft, or other vehicle. 

The term is most often used when there is a state of urgency but not in cases when there is an immediate danger to a person's life. 

"We have a jammed stabilizer and multiple failures showing. However, the plane is still operating reasonably normally," the pilot of AC935 says in the recording. 

After being instructed to change altitude, the pilot notified air traffic controllers that due to the flight control issue and increased approach speed, they would need emergency vehicles to meet them at the end of the runway. 

"We have 290 souls on board. We are negative hazardous cargo. We have seven tonnes of gas, so about an hour's worth of gas on board," the pilot says. "It should hopefully be a brief stop." 

Comments under the reconstruction video commended the pilot for staying calm during the ordeal, and called the seamless communications between them and air traffic controllers a "textbook example" of how all pilots should respond to similar situations. 

Thankfully, the aircraft was able to land safely at Pearson Airport without any injuries or further complications. Emergency vehicles met the aircraft on the runway, and just three minutes later, it was taxied back to the gate. 

Lead photo by

Ross Howey Photo/Shutterstock


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