LONDON — An Air Canada flight bound for Toronto was forced to make a dramatic U-turn over the Atlantic Ocean today, returning to London Heathrow just hours after departure due to a technical problem.
Air Canada Flight AC855, a regularly scheduled seven-hour transatlantic flight to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), departed Heathrow (LHR) at 12:09 BST. The aircraft, a Boeing 777-300ER registered as C-FIVQ, took off from runway 27R and followed its standard route, climbing as it crossed over the UK and Ireland before heading out over the open ocean.
The routine flight came to an abrupt halt roughly an hour and a half into the journey. While tracking across the Atlantic, the flight crew identified a technical issue with the 17-year-old widebody aircraft and made the decision to abandon the crossing.
Safe Return and Cancellation
Rather than pressing onward to Canada, the pilots elected to turn back toward London. The aircraft landed safely back on Heathrow’s runway 27R at approximately 15:24 BST, about three hours and 15 minutes after it initially took to the air.
Air Canada subsequently cancelled the flight, leaving passengers to be rebooked on alternative departures.
“The flight returned to London Heathrow due to an unexpected maintenance issue with the aircraft,” Air Canada said in a statement to AIRLIVE confirming the cancellation.
The airline’s maintenance teams are currently inspecting the Boeing 777 to determine the exact nature of the mechanical fault before it can be cleared to return to service.
