AN AIR CANADA flight with 128 passengers on board has made a safe emergency landing at Madrid airport following problems with one of its two engines and a ruptured tyre during take-off. 

The Spanish Union of Airline Pilots (Sepla) earlier tweeted that a Boeing 767 from Air Canada had “lost parts” of its landing gear after they entered. This occurred after take off from Barajas airport in Madrid. 

There was no immediate information on what caused the malfunction.

The Boeing 767 spent close to four hours flying in circles near Madrid, burning off fuel before the emergency landing, and Spain’s Defence Ministry dispatched an F18 fighter jet to evaluate the damage done to the landing gear.

Emergency vehicles approached the aircraft on one of the runways of Adolfo Suarez-Barajas international airport soon after it landed.

In a statement emailed to the Associated Press, the airline said the plane “experienced an engine issue shortly after take-off”, as well as a ruptured tyre — one of 10 on the Boeing 767-300.

It added that the aircraft “is designed to operate on one engine and our pilots are fully trained for this eventuality”.

The aircraft had departed from Adolfo Suarez-Barajas international airport earlier in the day and was scheduled to land in Toronto at 3.40pm local time.

A spokesman for Enaire, Spain’s air navigation authority, said the plane’s landing gear did not fold up properly on taking off and that a piece of it may have damaged part of one of the engines.

Spain’s El Mundo newspaper’s website published audio it said featured the plane’s pilot explaining to the passengers the need to return to Madrid because a wheel had been damaged during take-off.