'Mayday!': New details emerge after Boeing plane makes emergency landing at Mirabel airport
CTV
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday.
New details suggest that there were communication issues between the pilots of a charter flight and the control tower at Montreal's Mirabel airport when a Boeing 737 made an emergency landing on Wednesday.
The over-the-air broadcasts reviewed by Noovo Info reveal that the control tower wasn't aware that the plane had experienced a mechanical issue before approaching the runway.
The issue was detected after Flight NRL 662, operated by Nolinor, took off from Quebec City's Jean Lesage Airport Wednesday morning en route to Wabush airport in Newfoundland and Labrador, with a stop at Saguenay-Bagotville Airport.
However, a technical issue prevented the Boeing 737-400, carrying 87 passengers and seven crew members, from landing in Saguenay.
The crew then declared an in-flight emergency, known as "Pan-Pan," before the plane was diverted to Mirabel. Pan-Pan, a standard message in the aviation industry, is the less urgent equivalent of Mayday to signal a non-life-threatening emergency.
The Mirabel control tower was allegedly not informed of the signal.