After one hour of flying from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport (YYZ) to Port-of-Spain, a Caribbean Airlines (CAL) flight suddenly began experiencing technical difficulties and was forced to return to Canada.
Flight BW601 landed a short while ago at Pearson International and passengers on board were said to be very traumatised. Some of them began praying loudly after the plane was forced to turn around and return to its starting point, the T&T Guardian was told.
"It was a horrible landing, very rough and fast," one passenger who did not want to be identified said from Canada a short while ago.
The passenger added that when the pilot announced that the flight had to turn around, everyone initially thought it was a joke.
The flight departed from Pearson International at 10.53 pm from terminal 3 and upon its emergency return landed at 12.01 am after it was redirected by aviation authorities in Canada.
But passengers said they remain in the dark as to why the pilot was forced to return, as they were not given any full explanation save that "one of the instruments turned off in the cockpit."
The flight was scheduled to arrive at the Piarco International Airport at 4.40 am today.
In an email response a short while ago, head of CAL's Corporate Communications Dionne Ligoure said after take-off from Toronto, there was a minor technical issue.
"However, in keeping with standard operating procedure, the aircraft had to return to the gate for the issue to be checked by an aircraft engineer," Ligoure said.
"BW 601 returned to YYZ and landed safely at midnight. There was nothing reported to be unusual with the landing. The aircraft was positioned at the gate at 12.07 am," she added.
Ligoure said passengers were served meals while the engineers worked on the matter.