An Air Canada Boeing 737 carrying 162 passengers [1] veered off the taxiway at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport on Thursday, July 9, 2026.
The incident highlights potential operational failures and safety concerns regarding the speed of passenger evacuations during ground excursions.
The aircraft skidded off the taxiway or runway after landing and came to rest in a grassy area [2, 3]. While the plane drifted from the paved surface, officials said there were no injuries among the people on board [4].
Passengers remained on the aircraft for approximately three hours before they were eventually deplaned [5]. The delay in exiting the aircraft has drawn attention to the efficiency of emergency protocols at the Montreal facility.
Air Canada and airport officials said the excursion was the cause for the resulting operational delays [6]. The exact nature of the excursion, whether it occurred on the runway or the taxiway, varied across initial reports [7, 8].
Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport manages the traffic for the region, and the incident caused disruptions to scheduled flights on Thursday. The aircraft remained in the grassy area until ground crews could safely facilitate the removal of all 162 passengers [1].
“The aircraft skidded off the taxiway or runway after landing and came to rest in a grassy area”
This incident underscores the critical gap between a successful landing and a safe taxiing process. While the lack of injuries suggests the aircraft's structural integrity held, the three-hour delay in deplaning 162 passengers suggests a possible lack of preparedness for non-standard evacuations, which could lead to increased regulatory scrutiny of ground safety protocols at Canadian airports.
