Sunwing Airlines Flight Suffers Autopilot Issue in Montreal

Earlier this month, a Sunwing Airlines flight suffered an issue with it’s autopilot systems not long after departure from Montreal.

Sunwing Airlines Flight Suffers Autopilot Issue in Montreal…

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Sunwing Airlines flight WG6488 is a routine scheduled flight between Montreal and Varadero, with the affected rotation being operated by C-FJVE.

As per data from Planespotters.net, C-FJVE is a 18 year old Boeing 737-800 that started out life with Miami Air International as N740EH back in February 2006.

By December 2014, the aircraft was handed over to the Canadian carrier, which has done leasing stints with Smartwings in the Czech Republic over Summer periods.

Of the 737-800 variant, Sunwing Airlines has 21 of them, of which all are in active service, and offer an average age of 9.4 years.

Flight WG6488 departed Montreal at 1612 local time on February 8, and initially climbed out in the direction of Varadero.

However, not long after departure, the flight was climbing through 16,500 feet when the altitude indications on the autopilot mode control panel as well as the primary flight display froze, as per reporting from The Aviation Herald.

From there, a “PAN PAN” was declared by the crew onboard, prompting an emergency return back to Montreal, where the aircraft landed safely at 1641 local time, nearly 30 minutes after departure.

Reporting from the safety website stated that the autopilot mode control panel was replaced following the incident, and was deemed airworthy and re-entered commercial service on February 10, with it’s first flight from Montreal being down to Cancun.

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