Pair of issues forces Texas to Beijing flight to land in Alberta

It was supposed to land in Beijing, but Calgary is close enough, right?

An American Airlines passenger jet was en route from Texas to Beijing on Thursday when a pair of issues forced to make an early landing.

The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner left Dallas-Fort Worth late Thursday morning, but experienced both a medical emergency and a mechanical problem in the first few hours of the flight.

It was flying north over Manitoba when it veered southwest through Saskatchewan and entered Alberta just east of Fort McMurray.

The plane continued on to Edmonton and circled the city before turning south to Calgary to utilize a longer runway.

It also had been fuelled for a lengthy non-stop flight, so the large plane did loops around Drumheller to burn fuel and reduce its landing weight before its final approach to Calgary.

American Airlines hasn’t released any details surround the medical emergency and mechanical issue, although one passenger said the plane had problems with its flaps.

The plane landed shortly before 5 p.m. local time and the 209 passenger and 13 crew members were put up in hotels overnight.

Another plane, with a maintenance team on board, will be sent from Dallas today and the passengers will continue their trip to Beijing.

With files from the Canadian Press.