An in-flight emergency on an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max 8 plane resulted in it being diverted and safely landing in Idaho on Tuesday.
Air Canada flight AC997, which was flying from Mexico to Vancouver, made an unscheduled landing at Boise Airport this morning, according to a post on the airport’s Facebook page.
In a statement to Daily Hive, the airline said the diversion was a “precautionary measure” taken by the pilots after they “received an indicator light in the flight deck.”
Air Canada said first responders attended to the aircraft after it landed, but the issue was determined to be a “faulty cargo hold indicator.”
Flight tracking website Flight Aware shows the Boeing 737 Max flying into Oregon before diverting northeast to Boise on Tuesday morning.
Flight Aware/ Screenshot
There were 122 passengers and six crew members onboard the plane. Air Canada confirmed the aircraft will remain in Boise “at least overnight,” and another plane will arrive this evening to pick up the passengers and fly them back to Vancouver.
Boeing has been under fire following several recent incidents prompting serious safety concerns.
In January, an unused door plug on an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 aircraft blew out during the flight, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Portland, Oregon.
Earlier this week, the engine cover on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-800 fell off during takeoff in Denver.
US regulators have cracked down on the aircraft manufacturer, limiting its production of 737s to 38 per month.
Boeing planes were also involved in two deadly crashes that took place in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019, killing 346 passengers in total.
A Boeing spokesperson did not provide comment to Daily Hive regarding Tuesday’s flight diversion, stating that Air Canada would have the authority to speak on the incident because it owned, operated, and maintained the aircraft.
With files from The Peak’s Taylor Scollon.