MADRID — Passengers on an Air Canada Boeing 767 that made a safe emergency landing in Madrid on Monday evening have described how they spent hours flying in circles to burn fuel in a tense calm.
Toronto-bound flight AC837, carrying 128 passengers, departed from Madrid in the early afternoon but had to request an emergency return almost immediately after one of its two engines was damaged and a tire ruptured during takeoff.
Brock Mierzejewski, from Vancouver, who was on the plane with his parents, told The Associated Press: “Obviously a lot of nervous tension while we were in the air, but the pilots did a terrific job landing the plane.”
There was no immediate information on what had caused the malfunction.
The plane spent close to four hours flying in circles near Madrid, burning off fuel before it was light enough for landing. Spain’s Defense Ministry dispatched an F18 fighter jet to evaluate the damage done to the landing gear.