A New York City-bound flight was forced to make an emergency mid-air U-turn minutes after take-off when the flight crew noticed a “burnt electrical smell” and spotted fire in the cockpit.
The Endeavor Air jet took off from Toronto, Canada, around 6:47 a.m. Feb. 3 with 74 people onboard and was headed to JFK Airport in Queens when the terrifying incident occurred.
“Hey Toronto departure! Mayday! Mayday! Mayday!” the pilot frantically told an air traffic-controller as he noticed sparks flying from the jet’s windshield while climbing to peak altitude, according to audio recently shared to YouTube.
“This is Endeavor 4826, declaring an emergency. Just had a fire, a spark-up, an electrical fire, up in the cockpit. Looks like it’s out currently,” the pilot then says more calmly. “Requesting return back to Toronto immediately.”
The air-traffic controller acknowledges the pilot’s request and instructs him to turn the Bombardier CRJ-900 around and start descending, as he continues to ask the unidentified flyer questions, such as how many people were on board.
The pilot replies there are 74 souls on board, with 9,000 pounds of fuel.
When the air-traffic controller asks if there is any hazardous cargo on the plane, the pilot says there is not, “as far as we know.”
Moments later, the pilot can be heard telling another airport official that the fire appears to be out.
“We had a spark-up and flare-up on our windshield, it looks like it does appear to be out,” he said. “We should be able to exit the runway, but we’ll have fire trucks take us all the way to the gate.”
The pilot was instructed to fly into the airport, and a flight trajectory showed the plane turn around.
As the jet then starts to descend, the air-traffic controller can be heard telling the pilot details about the wind speed and adds, “The [fire truck] vehicles are on standby.
“They will follow you down the runway. Any other pertinent information?”
The pilot then reiterates that “we did have an electrical fire.
“Looks like the windshield heater sparked up. That fire is out now,” he said. “We haven’t canceled the emergency yet.”
Once the plane landed safely 25 minutes after it took off, the pilot told the operator of a ground vehicle, “There was an electrical fire on the captain’s side windshield here. We did not expect there was anything on the outside.
“It went out within approximately 30 seconds,” the pilot noted, adding that he didn’t suspect there would be any damage but welcomed the firefighters on board to inspect the vehicle anyway.
A few minutes later, a ground vehicle official is heard saying, “Everything checks out OK. … You’re welcome to go to the gate.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released a statement afterward saying the flight crew noticed a “burnt electrical smell” in the cockpit and were looking around for the cause when they saw the windshield heater emitting sparks and flames.
Crew members immediately put on their oxygen and turned off the windshield heater, at which point the flames stopped, the TSB said, noting that the plane’s windshield would have to be replaced.
No one was injured, and the plane was returned to service two days after the frightening incident.
Bombardier jets have had issues with electrical fires emanating from their windshield heaters in the past.
In 2015, the National Transportation Safety Board conducted a search of Federal Aviation Administration and Transport Canada Service Difficulty Reports and found 94 instances of electrical fires in DHC-8 jet windshields from 2000, according to a report.
Many of the incidents cited a loose connection at a terminal block or incorrectly installed or missing hardware as the cause.
Delta Air Lines, which owns Endeavor Air, and Bombardier did not immediately respond to Post requests for comment Monday.