An Air Canada Rouge flight en route to Toronto was forced to make an emergency landing in the United States on Wednesday after the smell of smoke was detected on board.
Flight 1702, which departed Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas at 11:23 a.m., was scheduled to arrive at Toronto Pearson Airport around 6:30 p.m. Instead, the flight diverted and landed at Des Moines International Airport in Iowa at approximately 4:00 p.m., according to flight tracking data from FlightAware.
In a statement, Air Canada confirmed that the emergency landing was made out of an abundance of caution after crew members detected the smell of smoke in both the cockpit and cabin. The aircraft landed safely and was promptly met by airport emergency response teams in Des Moines for evaluation.
There were 176 passengers aboard the flight at the time. No injuries were reported, and all passengers were safely accommodated while the situation was assessed.
After clearance from authorities, the flight resumed its journey, departing Des Moines at 11:50 p.m. and arriving at Toronto Pearson Airport at 2:23 a.m. early Thursday morning.
Air Canada has not yet disclosed the specific cause of the smoke but assured that passenger safety remains the airline’s top priority.