THUNDER BAY -- A flight to Toronto from Edmonton made an unexpected stop in the city Tuesday morning.
WestJet Flight 428, which was headed east to Toronto from Edmonton, was forced to land in Thunder Bay late Tuesday morning after an indicator light went off, warning the captain of the possibility of smoke.
Initial reports received by Thunder Bay Fire Rescue had indicated there was smoke in the cockpit area, which platoon chief Brant Kiessig said was not the case.
“Our crews went onboard with thermal imaging cameras to see if we could detect the problem and they seem to have narrowed it down to an LED light that had burnt out,” Kiessig said. “It seemed to be an indication of smoke so they always err on the side of caution.”
The captain contacted the Thunder Bay International Airport at 11:20 a.m. to request an emergency landing at the airport.
The Boeing 737 plane, which WestJet officials said had 95 passengers and six crew members, landed without incident at 11:44 a.m.
Upon landing the plane was met by the airport’s operation specialists, where two pumpers escorted the jet towards the terminal. City fire crews also had multiple trucks on standby.
Firefighters could be seen entering the plane from underneath the tail section as it sat at the terminal.
Ed Schmidtke, interim president and CEO of the airport authority, said the passengers were evacuated from the plane as a precaution.
Airport officials were unsure of when the passengers and crew will get back in the air.
“We’re still gathering information on when the plane will depart. That is entirely WestJet’s decision,” Schmidtke said.
In a statement issued Tuesday, WestJet officials said the plane was being examined and that passenger would be placed on other flights to Toronto.
Transport Canada personnel were also said to be on the scene.
