Air Canada flight to Montreal declares mayday over Toronto

An Air Canada flight heading out of Toronto Pearson International Airport last week was forced to turn around due to an onboard emergency.

On May 18, Air Canada flight, AC490, took off from Toronto Pearson at around 6 p.m., heading toward Montreal.

Shortly after take off, a spokesperson for Air Canada confirmed an “electrical odour was detected in the cabin,” prompting pilots to divert to Toronto as a precaution.

“Priority clearance for landing was requested as the return was unscheduled,” Peter Fitzpatrick of Air Canada told CTV News Toronto.

Based on Flightradar24, the trip had not made it past Scarborough when it made its way back to Toronto Pearson airport. The whole flight lasted less than an hour, according to the flight tracking website.

The plane landed normally, and after being inspected by first response vehicles, Fitzpatrick said customers deplaned normally after taxing at the gate and were rebooked.

One Twitter user, claiming to be onboard the flight, said Air Canada crew remained calm and professional after the “electrical fire smell.”

“And now I missed my connecting flight AC919. Addio Venezia…” the tweet reads.

AC490 returned to YYZ after reports of electrical fire smell. All is good. @AirCanada crew stayed calm and professional. And now I missed my connecting flight AC818. Addio Venezia… pic.twitter.com/vpzBAePuXv

— GEL (@wheres_gar) May 19, 2023

“We did contact customers afterward to apologize for the inconvenience and this included a goodwill gesture,” Fitzpatrick said.

As for the source of the smell, Fitzpatrick said it came from a power box for one of the plane’s row of seats, which had over-heated. It has been replaced and the aircraft has been returned to service, Fitpatrick says.