A warning light prompted a Toronto-bound WestJet flight to return to the Fredericton International airport shortly after taking off Tuesday morning.
Airport officials say they received notification around 6:20 a.m. that there was an emergency onboard a WestJet flight that had just taken off and that the aircraft would be returning to the airport.
On passenger told CTV Atlantic that everyone was calm and there was no indication of trouble, from his point of view.
“Within about 15 minutes they told us we were turning around to head back to Fredericton and they didn’t tell us why until we landed on the tarmac,” said Daniel Richard. “They stopped right away before we even taxied into the airport and the fire truck met us on the tarmac.”
All passengers, crew and baggage were then offloaded for a mechanical inspection.
“The aircraft, once it was declared it was all safe, was allowed to return to the atrium where it was searched with our emergency response services and their special equipment a couple more times, then it was declared safe,” said airport spokesman Alvin Nason.
WestJet confirmed Tuesday afternoon that a warning light had indicated there was something wrong with the aircraft’s engine fire detection system. The company says there was no fire, but the plane returned to the airport as a precaution.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Nick Moore
