Air Canada flight declares Mayday after engine failure over Pacific

An Air Canada flight from Toronto to San Francisco made an emergency landing after one of its engines failed mid-flight on July 31.

Air Canada flight 743, an Airbus A320, was en route to San Francisco International Airport when the aircraft's number one engine began vibrating and stalling. Fumes and smoke entered the cabin, prompting pilots to shut down the engine and declare "Mayday" to air traffic controllers — the formal signal for an in-flight emergency.

On the audio recording of the exchange, the pilot explained: "we had an engine stalled followed by an engine failure with smell of smoke. So we shut down the engine. So there is a potential damage of the engine."

Pilots guided the plane to San Francisco Airport's runway 28R using an instrument-assisted approach, where the aircraft landed safely and was met by emergency crews on the ground. The aircraft remained grounded following the incident but returned to service on August 5.

The flight carried passengers and crew whose identities and injury status have not been released. Air Canada has not provided a statement on the root cause of the engine failure.