Air Canada Flight AC774 slid off course after landing at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport on Thursday afternoon, veered off a taxiway and came to rest in the grass with 156 passengers and six crew members aboard. No one was injured.
The Boeing 737 MAX had landed from Los Angeles just before 4 p.m. on Runway 6L/24R, and the airport’s north runway was closed while the aircraft was evacuated. Air Canada said the flight landed normally before the taxiway excursion, then the plane turned onto Taxiway B1 and appears to have overshot a 150-degree right turn onto Taxiway B.
Rain was falling at the airport when the aircraft was moving after landing, adding a difficult layer to a maneuver that should have ended on the pavement. The question is not whether the jet stopped safely — it did — but why it left the taxi path in the first place.
Air Canada said all passengers and crew were safely deplaned and were in the terminal, with buses taking passengers back while plans were made to tow the aircraft to a hangar for a full inspection. Runway 6L/24R reopened around 9:45 p.m. after several hours of disruption, but the incident had already rippled through operations at YUL for the evening.
NAV Canada warned of delays because runway availability was reduced after the aircraft incident and weather in the region, which meant the airport was working with less room to absorb the shock of a single runway closure. Air Canada also canceled the plane’s scheduled Thursday evening flight to San Francisco and its Friday morning return to Montréal.
That leaves the core issue still open: Air Canada says the landing itself was normal, yet the aircraft still ended up in the grass after leaving the runway. The airline said it was undertaking a detailed investigation and would work with the relevant authorities to determine what happened next.
