Boeing 737-8 Max: Air Canada jet shuts down an engine and diverts after mechanical issue

An Air Canada Boeing Co 737-8 Max en route between Arizona and Montreal with three crew members onboard suffered an engine issue that forced the crew to divert the aircraft to Tucson, Arizona, the airline says.

Shortly after the take-off, the pilots received an “engine indication” and “decided to shut down one engine”, an Air Canada spokesman said on Friday.

737 Max: Boeing ‘inappropriately coached’ test pilots, say senators

Read more

“The aircraft then diverted to Tucson, where it landed normally and remains.”

The incident took place on 22 December.

The crew received a left engine hydraulic low pressure indication and declared a Pan-Pan emergency before diverting the flight, Belgian aviation news website Aviation24.be reported.

“Modern aircraft are designed to operate with one engine and our crews train for such operations“, the Air Canada statement said.

Boeing and operators are bracing for heightened scrutiny as the 737 Max returns from a 20-month safety grounding, but safety experts say such glitches are common and usually go unnoticed.

The United States grounded the Max in March 2019 after two planes crashed because of faulty sensors and a design flaw that repeatedly pushed down the nose of the aircraft.

In the first incident, at least 189 people died onboard Lion Air Flight JT610, a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet, when it crashed shortly after takeoff from the Indonesian capital Jakarta in October 2018. In March 2019, another Boeing 737 Max 8 – Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 – crashed en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi. The crash killed 157 people from 35 different countries, including eight crew members.

Boeing 737 Max given approval to fly again by US regulators

Read more

The US lifted the flight ban on the 737 Max last month, with its Federal Aviation Administration outlining details of the software, system and training upgrades Boeing and airlines must complete before carrying passengers.

In a response to a Reuters request for comment on the Air Canada flight, a Boeing spokeswoman referred to Air Canada for information on the incident and did not provide any additional comment.