An inconvenience that could have been worrying… Tuesday May 7, 2024, a Boeing 787-900 type plane from Air France had to be diverted for an astonishing cause. This plane, which was to take passengers from Paris to Seattle, quickly became the subject of questions from passengers. Everything seemed to be going normally untilan unpleasant smell begins to bother passengers. They indeed noted “the appearance of a hot smell felt in the cabin”the company told AFPWednesday May 8, 2024, relayed by The Parisian. The plane was therefore unable to continue its flight and landed in Canada. “Air France confirms that the crew of flight AF338 on May 7, 2024, connecting Paris (CDG) to Seattle (SEA) in a Boeing 787-900 decided to divert to Iqaluit airport (YFB), Canada, continued the appearance of a hot smell felt in the cabin”she admitted to the company.
The procedure put in place to deal with this odor is the one provided for in this type of case. “This decision was taken in accordance with the manufacturer’s procedures, in accordance with the company’s instructions and in application of the precautionary principle. The plane landed normally in Iqaluit (north-eastern Canada, Editor’s note) at 10:44 a.m. local time on Tuesday., assures Air France. People traveling on board had to be diverted to other flights in order to reach their final destination. The passengers of the flight were in fact transported to New York-JFK airportthen towards Seattle.
Air France: “Checks continue”
The teams responsible for the usual checks in this type of procedure have not noticed any problem with the device: “The first checks by the Air France mechanic seconded to the site have not yet revealed any anomalies. These checks continue”, declared the Air France spokesperson. Furthermore, the latter made a point of specifying that the planes produced by Boeing, more particularly the 787 and 777 models, currently have no reason to be withdrawn from the airline’s fleet: “Air France scrupulously follows the requests and recommendations of the French authorities and international. No reservations have been expressed regarding the fleets of Boeing 787 and 777 operated by our company. The US Civil Aviation Regulatory Agency has opened an investigation into three of the four aircraft models manufactured by Boeing, including the 777.