Madrid (AFP)
An Air Canada plane with 128 passengers on board landed in an emergency Monday night at Madrid airport due to a technical problem, Spanish authorities said.
This Boeing 767-300, which had taken off from Madrid airport in the afternoon, landed around 19:10 (18:10 GMT), "no problem," said on its Twitter account Enaire, the air traffic control in Spain.
Before being able to land, this plane, which was destined for Toronto, had been forced to fly over the Madrid region to lighten up by burning part of its fuel.
"Air Canada flight AC837, on the Madrid-Toronto route, had an engine problem shortly after takeoff. A tire also burst on takeoff, one of ten tires on this model aircraft," A spokesperson for the Canadian company told AFP before landing.
"The aircraft chose to make a U-turn to return to Madrid" and had to "circle in the air to burn fuel to lighten up for landing," she added.
According to the airport's website, Air Canada flight AC 837 took off at 2:33 p.m. (1:33 p.m. GMT).
The emergency services had deployed "preventive" firefighters and medical teams on the spot while the Minister of Transport Jose Luis Abalos made the trip to the airport to follow the landing.
The Spanish Air Force had also sent an F-18 fighter plane near the Boeing to check the condition of the landing gear, "said the Defense Ministry.
This emergency landing came a few hours after the temporary closure of the airspace around the Madrid airport due to the presumed presence of drones.
© 2020 AFP