During a ferry flight from the Mojave Desert to Quebec on Tuesday, an Air Canada 737 MAX 8 declared urgency after indications of low pressure on the left engine and subsequent fuel imbalance in the left wing tank. The aircraft swerved to Tuscon and landed without incident an hour and 20 minutes after departure.
The crew decided to turn off the engine and divert
On December 22, an Air Canada 737 MAX was en route to long-term storage at the Pinal Airpark (MZJ) in Marana, Arizona, to Montreal in Quebec, when two connected incidents caused its diversion to Tuscon.
Flight AC2358 left MZJ at 9:32 am local time with three crew members on board. Shortly after takeoff, the pilots received an indication of low hydraulic pressure from the left engine.
The crew worked on the checklists and, after consulting with dispatch and maintenance, they decided to continue to Canada and Montreal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL). However, that was not the end of his woes, reports the Aviation Herald.
Shortly afterwards, at 39,000 feet, the left wing tank indicated fuel imbalance. At that point, the cabin crew decided to turn off the left engine. They also declared the international standard urgency signal; PAN PAN. Instead of continuing northward, the pilots then returned and diverted to Tuscon International Airport (TUS).
Returning after almost a year in the desert
MAX landed safely on TUS runway 11L about 80 minutes after the start. The emergency services attended the aircraft on the taxiway. After an initial inspection, they accompanied him to a remote position in the courtyard. At the time of writing, the plane was still in Tuscon. The Transport Safety Council of Canada (TSB) said it would conduct an investigation into the incident.
The aircraft in question is a 737 MAX 8 registered as C-FSNQ. It arrived with Air Canada in June 2018. It was moved to the dry Mojave Desert for storage in February of this year and shortly thereafter was added by almost all Air Canada MAXs to just three, C-FSNU, C-GEIV and C-GEJL have so far returned from Arizona.
The great MAX migration
The Canadian airline has a total of 24 MAX 8 jets in its fleet. However, it sold nine of them for relocation in an attempt at liquidity during the ongoing crisis. In the meantime, the Star Alliance member expects delivery of 14 more aircraft.
Boeing is in the process of clearing its list of ready, but not delivered, 737 MAX jets after the FAA’s type recertification just over a month ago. However, a month after landing, only ten of the planes had reached the new owners.
Although it appears unrelated to the software problems that caused the plane to be stranded, it is too early to say whether or not this incident will affect Air Canada’s decision on when to put the MAX back into service.
Simple Flying has contacted the airline for a comment, but has not yet received a response at the time of publication.
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