An Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 veered onto rough ground while vacating the runway at Montreal-Trudeau International Airport on July 9, 2026, triggering an aircraft inspection and compounding a day of severe delays at the airport.
The jet was operating flight AC774 from Los Angeles and had touched down on runway 06L at around 16:00 local time before it exited the taxiway in rainy conditions. Meteorological data from Montreal indicated rain and variable winds at the time of the occurrence. There were no injuries among the 162 passengers and crew on board.
The airframe was identified as C-GEOJ, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 delivered to Air Canada in 2022. Plans were being made to tow the aircraft to a hangar for a full inspection, and the airline had not disclosed whether it sustained damage.
Excursions of this kind, where an aircraft leaves the paved surface while taxiing off the runway, are among the most common runway-safety events worldwide. They frequently occur in wet conditions, when reduced friction and standing water can make it harder to keep a jet precisely on the centreline during the transition from the runway to a taxiway. In most cases the aircraft comes to rest on adjacent grass or unpaved ground at low speed, as appears to have happened here, but the airframe still has to be inspected for damage to the landing gear, tyres and lower fuselage before it can return to service.
The Boeing 737 MAX 8 is the best-selling member of Boeing's re-engined narrow-body family and forms a core part of Air Canada's short- and medium-haul fleet, operating domestic routes as well as transcontinental services like the Los Angeles-Montreal sector involved in this event. The type is powered by CFM International LEAP-1B engines and is fitted with distinctive split-scimitar winglets.
The incident landed on an already difficult day for Montreal. The airport was among the most delayed in the world on July 9, with 27 departing flights, or roughly 7 percent, cancelled and about 130, or 35 percent, delayed. On the inbound side, 113 arriving services, or around 29 percent, ran late, with a further two dozen cancelled outright. A disabled aircraft on or beside an active runway can force temporary closures and re-sequencing that ripple through an airport's schedule for hours.
Air Canada has not indicated how long the aircraft is expected to remain out of service pending the inspection. Runway excursions are routinely reviewed by operators and, where warranted, by national safety authorities to establish contributing factors such as surface conditions, aircraft configuration and handling.
Sources: FlightGlobal, Simple Flying. Featured image: AI-generated by AviationShop. By Marco Bianchi.
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