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An Airbus A330 flying from Montreal, Quebec, to London Heathrow, England had to turn around and fly back to its original departure destination. What’s noticeable: it happened twice in two days.
On Thursday, March 20th, an Airbus A330, registration C-GEGP, departed the Canadian airport at 8:45 PM local time heading southwest to operate flight AC866. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft turned northeast and climbed to 37,000 feet.
At around two hours after takeoff, the plane flew over the Labrador Sea, which connects mainland Canada and Greenland. Suddenly, the pilots decided to turn back due to a technical issue, according to AirLive.net. Approximately four hours after departure, the A330 had returned to its departure airport.
Replacement
The passengers disembarked the aircraft. Air Canada arranged another A330 for them, registration C-GEFA. This aircraft had been parked at the airport since Thursday afternoon after landing from Madrid, Spain. At 1:20 AM the following day, the aircraft took off heading southwest before immediately turning towards Europe. The A330 eventually arrived at London Heathrow with a delay of just over four hours. The return flight, AC865, was not affected as it was not scheduled until the afternoon.
Another Turnaround
On the same day (Friday, March 21st), another Air Canada Airbus A330, registration C-GHKW, also departed Montreal for London Heathrow. At 8:50 PM, the aircraft took off. It climbed to 16,000 feet when the pilots requested an immediate return from air traffic control. The reason for this, however, is unknown. After just under 45 minutes, the A330 landed safely back at its airport of departure. Unlike Thursday’s flight, this flight was cancelled.