"All of a sudden, it just starts to go from red to black and the turbulence started," Gregoire recalled in an interview. Pilots trained for wildfire conditionsIn the sky, towering clouds of black smoke reached airliner altitude and blotted out the sun. Gregoire estimated the pilots fought for five agonizing minutes before abandoning the landing attempt and returning to Vancouver. "The wise choice would be to avoid areas where the smoke is most dense," said McKeogh, the veteran former pilot. After spending an extra night in Vancouver, Gregoire flew back to Kelowna on Monday.

Source: CBC News August 19, 2021 14:00 UTC