An Air Canada jet carrying 128 passengers has successfully made an emergency landing at Madrid airport tonight after a landing gear tyre burst and entered one of its engines during take-off.
The Boeing 767 bound for Toronto reportedly landed at 7.15pm local time after circling above the Spanish city for three hours to burn off as much fuel as possible
Spain’s main union of pilot workers, SEPLA, said in a tweet that the plane lost some pieces of its landing gear during takeoff and that the aircraft needs to fly in circles to burn off fuel before landing.
The airport was closed for over an hour earlier on Monday and 26 flights were immediately diverted elsewhere.
Before landing, an F-18 Spanish Air Force combat jet took off to fly alongside the Air Canada plane so it can assess the damage to the aircraft and escort it towards the airport when it is ready to land. Dozens of ambulances were sent to Madrid’s Barajas Airport and hospitals in the area were also put on alert as part of protocol.
