MADRID—An Air Canada Boeing 767 aircraft was returning to Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport for an emergency landing on Monday after reporting a “technical issue,” Spanish airport operator AENA said.
Spanish pilots union SEPLA said on Twitter, without citing any sources, that part of the plane’s landing gear had fallen off and gone into one of the engines.
The incident occurred just hours after a drone sighting near the takeoff area at the airport caused a brief disruption, with 26 flights diverted away from Barajas.
The Canadian airliner called air traffic control 30 minutes after takeoff and requested a slot for an emergency landing, an AENA spokeswoman said.
She was unable to provide further details or say whether the incident was in any way related to the previous shutdown.
According to Flightradar24, a tracking website monitoring the incident, the aircraft involved, a Boeing 767-200ER, is about 30 years old.
By Inti Landauro and Tim Hepher
