Montreal (AFP)

A WestJet Boeing 737 MAX, scheduled to fly from Calgary to Toronto, was grounded, just before takeoff, after a warning light illuminated in the cockpit, it was learned on Friday. from the Canadian company.

The aircraft, whose model has been authorized to fly again since Wednesday in Canada, was to carry passengers on board flight WS 658.

"After a normal engine start, a monitoring system indicated a potential failure which required verification," said Lauren Stewart, spokesperson for Canada's second-largest carrier, in an email to AFP.

"It is an operation which takes time and a restart of the engines, which one does not achieve with passengers on board", she added, indicating that the apparatus is thus "returned to the door of 'boarding".

The aircraft's return flight WS 665 (Toronto to Calgary) was also canceled and passengers were redirected to other flights.

"This was to be our third commercial flight (of a Boeing 737 MAX, note) since the sky reopened" and the resumption of flights on this model by WestJet on Wednesday, said Ms. Stewart.

The aircraft was then checked by maintenance crews and is expected to fly on Sunday.

The Boeing 737 MAX resumed service in Canada on Wednesday after the Canadian government validated design changes and additional requirements for crew training in mid-December.

The aircraft was banned from flying in Canada for nearly 22 months, like many countries, following two accidents that claimed the lives of 346 people.

At the end of December, an Air Canada Boeing 737-8 MAX, which was on a flight between Arizona and Montreal with three crew members on board, experienced an engine problem that forced it to land shortly after takeoff.

Earlier that same month, Brazilian company Gol became the first in the world to return the Boeing 737 MAX to service on a smooth commercial flight between Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.

© 2021 AFP