Saskatchewan·NewA Porter Airlines flight from Hamilton to Vancouver made an emergency landing at Regina International Airport Tuesday night.Porter flight 483 declared an emergency at 8:20 p.m., says Regina International AirportAliyah Marko-Omene · CBC News · Posted: Jul 16, 2025 9:19 AM EDT | Last Updated: 12 minutes ago The aircraft had been cruising at 38-thousand feet, heading from Hamilton to Vancouver, when the pilots made a steep descent over Montana. (Francis Ferland/CBC)A planeload of Porter Airlines passengers got an unexpected detour to Regina Tuesday night, after their plane made an emergency landing. The Embraer 195 jet had been cruising at 38,000 feet over Montana, en route from Hamilton to Vancouver, when the plane suddenly made a steep descent around 7:30 p.m., then diverted to Regina International Airport.Porter Airlines has confirmed the plane cabin smelled of smoke.The pilots landed the plane safely in Regina at 8:33 p.m.”The captain elected to land in Regina as a precaution due to the smell of smoke in the cabin, although none was visible,” a spokesperson for Porter Airlines wrote in an email to CBC Wednesday morning.At 8:20 PM, Porter flight 483 declared an emergency and landed at YQR. All passengers were safely deplaned and moved inside the terminal building. There are no impacts to YQR operations and flights are operating as normal.—@FlyYQRThey said the 85 passengers and five crew members onboard the flight stayed in hotels overnight and will continue their journey to Vancouver on another aircraft.”We appreciate the Regina Airport’s support on the ground and the patience of passengers as we prioritize safe operations,” the email said. A steep descentThe aircraft is recorded on Flight Radar 24 as descending at 10,000 feet per minute at one point.A descension map of Tuesday’s Porter flight 483. The darker the blue, the steeper the descent or climb. (CBC )The plane turns directly toward Regina during this descent, then levels off around 7,000 feet for some time. Then, the aircraft turns as if it might be heading to Calgary and climbs back up to 14,000 feet. But then a decision seems to be made to divert to Regina again, and the pilots begin a more normal descent toward YQR and landed safely at 8:33 p.m..Porter Airlines has not yet confirmed what caused the smell of smoke.ABOUT THE AUTHORAliyah Marko-Omene is a reporter for CBC Saskatchewan. She has previously worked for CBC and Toronto Star in Toronto. You can reach her at aliyah.marko@cbc.ca.
Porter Airlines flight to Vancouver makes emergency landing in Regina
