A front wheel fell off a plane during take-off in Canada, forcing the flight to turn back.
The Air Canada Express flight, operated by Jazz Aviation, was flying from Montreal-Trudeau airport on 3 January when the incident occurred.
The dramatic moment the wheel detached was captured on camera by passenger Tom, who wrote: “So, well, I’m currently on a plane that has just lost a wheel... 2020 starting off pretty well.”
After the aircraft lost a wheel, the service to Bagotville, 230 miles north, had to turn around and land at Montreal.
“During take-off from Montreal enroute to Bagotville (flight AC8684), one of the two wheels on the left main landing gear became detached,” a Jazz Aviation spokesperson told The Independent.
“The Dash 8-300 aircraft is equipped with six tires – two on the right landing gear, two on the left, and two on the nose wheel landing gear.
“The experienced pilots maintained complete control of the aircraft. Our pilots are well trained to deal with such situations and responded according to our standard operating procedures.
“After burning some fuel, the aircraft returned to Montreal and landed safely.”
They added that emergency vehicles were called to the airport “as a precautionary measure”.
The Dash 8-300, which had 49 passengers and three crew members onboard, managed to land safely. No one was injured in the incident.
It’s not the first time this issue has occurred onboard an aircraft.
A plane had to make an emergency landing in Kenya after one of the aircraft’s wheels fell off during take-off in October 2019.
The flight, operated by domestic Kenyan airline Silverstone Air, was departing Lodwar in northwest Kenya when the incident occurred.
It was due to land in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, but the pilot made the decision to touch down in Eldoret in west Kenya instead.
“We would like to confirm that our flight Dash 8-300 from Lodwar to Nairobi experienced an incident during takeoff and as a result, lost the number 3 wheel assembly,” the airline said in a statement.
“The safety of our customers and crew is always our top priority. The captain of the flight decided to divert to Eldoret International Airport in the interests of the continued safety of the passengers and the crew.
“This was a precautionary action and the aircraft landed safely.”
