Air Canada Pilot Diverts Plane To Save Dog’s Life

by pawbuzz on in Dogs 96

Here's the full story of the Air Canada pilot who is being praised for making a decision that delayed an international flight for more than an hour and cost the airline more than $10,000 in fuel and landing charges – all to save a dog’s life!

Simba, a 7-year old French Bulldog, was on board for his first ever flight, in the plane’s cargo hold, when the pilot noticed that the airplane’s heating system had malfunctioned just before the flight reached the Atlantic Ocean, where temperatures would plummet.

Without second thought, the pilot turned the plane, which was bound for Toronto from Tel Aviv, and landed in Frankfurt, Germany instead.

The dog’s owner was more than grateful.

“It’s my dog, it’s like my child. It’s everything to me,” he said after they were reunited at Pearson Airport.

Aviation expert Phyl Durby said the pilot made the right call, despite tacking on about $10,000 in fuel costs and delaying the flight by 75 minutes.

“If you look at the outside temperature, if it’s minus 50 or 60, there is some insulation but it will probably still get down to below freezing (in the cargo area),” Durby said.

“The captain is responsible for all lives on board, whether it’s human or K-9.”

Check out the video below:



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96 thoughts on “Air Canada Pilot Diverts Plane To Save Dog’s Life”

  38. Paul Larribas

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    The owner said “It’s my dog, it’s like my child. It’s everything to me”. If that was true, why was it traveling in the cargo hold? Would they place their human child in the cargo hold? Frenchies and other snub-nosed dogs should NEVER fly in the cargo hold. Although the pilot did the right thing, the dog should have been traveling in the passenger compartment in there first place.

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