Two passenger airliners en route to destinations in Europe were forced to divert and land at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Halifax, N.S., only minutes apart from one another Tuesday night.
A United Airlines jet on its way to Brussels, Belgium, made an emergency landing after a small fire aboard the Boeing 777 airliner, a spokesman for the airport said on Tuesday.
No one was injured on the flight from Newark, N.J., which was carrying 233 passengers, Peter Spurway said.
"There was a small fire on board. It was contained but there was smoke in the aircraft. The pilot did declare an emergency and landed at approximately ten to 10 p.m. Atlantic time," he said, adding the fire was "in the rear of the aircraft."
Cpl. Angie Hawryluk with Halifax District RCMP says the fire was contained to the galley area of the aircraft.
About two minutes later at 9:52 p.m. local time, Air Canada Flight AC874 from Montreal-Pierre Elliot Trudeau International Airport on its way to Frankfurt, Germany, diverted to Halifax due to a medical emergency on board.
The Boeing 767 was carrying 165 passengers at the time.
The jet was met on the tarmac by emergency personnel and the passenger was transferred into their care, a spokesman with Air Canada said in an email statement.
It was expected that the plane would arrive in Frankfurt approximately two to three hours later than its original estimated landing time due to the delay.
United Airlines said a new plane was en route to Halifax to take the passengers to Belgium.