Plane forced into emergency landing on flight from London to Canada
PILOTS issued an emergency call on a Boeing 767 flight which left London Gatwick this morning.
The flight which was scheduled to land at Edmonton in Canada at 12.59 local time has been forced to land in Iceland following a one and a half hour hold over the European island.
The Westjet flight, number WS27, left London at 10.55am and was just over two hours into its journey when the pilots made an 'emergency squawk'.
The flight made its way to Keflavik International Airport in Iceland but before it did it turned around on its path and spent almost an hour and a half over the Atlantic.
It was thought it was dumping fuel as it continued to remain in its holding pattern.
According to Flightradar 24 the flight was at an altitude of 11,000 ft before it eventually made it safely to the ground.
WestJet is Canada’s second largest airline behind Air Canada.
It provides discounted air fares for scheduled and charter air service to 100 destinations in the US and Europe.
Founded in 1996, it is currently the second-largest Canadian air carrier, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 425 flights and carrying over 45,000 passengers a day.
A spokeswoman for the airline said: “WestJet Flight 27 from Gatwick to Edmonton diverted to Iceland after crew detected a potential mechanical issue. The flight has landed normally.
“It is important to remember that the declaration of an emergency does not necessarily mean an actual emergency has occurred.
“It is declared to establish priority landing and to ensure the availability of emergency vehicles whether needed or not, and is a measure taken out of an abundance of caution.”
