Toronto-bound flight makes emergency landing in Dublin

Same aircraft that ran out of fuel in 2001 was forced to divert after smoke appeared in cabin

An Air Transat flight heading to Toronto from Rome has made an emergency landing in Dublin, Ireland, after smoke appeared in the cabin.

Dublin Airport tweeted that the plane landed safely at 11:46 a.m. It turned back just past the coast of Northern Ireland.

The Airbus A330 had 313 passengers and 12 crew members on board when it landed following “traces of smoke” appearing in the cabin for a “precautionary technical verification,” according to an airline spokesperson.

There was a “full turnout” of emergency fire services at the scene, a spokesperson for Dublin Airport confirmed.

Air Transat Flight 315 was scheduled to land at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport at 5:50 p.m. on Friday. It departed from Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport at 8 a.m.

The aircraft is the same plane that hard landed at Lajes airport in the Azores on Aug. 24, 2001, after leaving Pearson airport.

In that incident, Air Transat Flight 236 ran out of fuel with 304 passengers on board while travelling over the Atlantic.

The pilots, Cpt. Robert Piche of Montreal and his Toronto co-pilot, Derk DeJager, had “10 minutes of fuel and were 20 minutes away (from) this airport,” said Antonio Costa-Coelho, chief of staff at Lajes airport in the Azores, speaking to the Star in 2001.

They were hailed as heroes for managing to guide the aircraft down safely. Costa-Coelho said they landed it using “just the wind and the wings.”

There were no serious casualties, although about 80 passengers needed medical attention and the impact of the landing burst eight of the plane’s 10 tires.

The accident investigation report did not make a distinction between a crash and hard landing, but statements made by the pilot to the Star in 2001indicate he believed it to be a hard landing. With files from Dale Brazao