Halifax Stanfield International Airport was temporarily closed for about 90 minutes on Saturday night following an incident involving Air Canada Flight 2259, operated by PAL Airlines.
The plane, arriving from St. John’s, skidded off the runway during landing, with part of the aircraft catching fire.
Passenger Nikki Valentine described the frightening experience, explaining that one of the plane’s tires failed to deploy correctly.
“The plane tilted to about a 20-degree angle to the left, and we heard a loud noise, almost like a crash, as the wing scraped along the pavement, along with what I assume was the engine,” Valentine told CBC.
As the plane skidded, the pilots worked to bring it to a stop. “The plane shook a lot, and we started to see fire on the left side, with smoke coming through the windows,” Valentine recalled.
The incident, which occurred around 9:30 p.m. AT, involved 73 passengers and crew. After the plane came to a halt, passengers were evacuated by bus since the aircraft could not reach the terminal.
Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick confirmed a “suspected landing gear issue” was the cause of the incident. While he reported no major injuries, the Nova Scotia RCMP indicated that some passengers sustained minor injuries.
Valentine said the evacuation took about two minutes. “One side of the plane was on fire, so everyone was in a rush to get off — but it was an organized rush,” she explained.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has deployed investigators to examine the incident involving the de Havilland DHC-8-402 aircraft.
The airport reopened one of its runways after the closure, but the plane remains on the closed runway. Four flights were diverted, and several others were delayed or canceled during the closure.
Further updates will follow as the TSB investigation into the cause of the incident continues.
