The Fly Air Canada experienced a “hard landing” on Saturday night, according to officials, which caused the plane to skid down the runway and part of it caught fire, filling the cabin with smoke.
Air Canada Gone 2259 – operated by partner regional carrier PAL Airlines – left Newfoundland's St. John's International Airport on Saturday afternoon for the approximately two-hour trip to Newfoundland International Airport National Halifax Stanfield in Nova Scotia. There were 73 passengers on board.
After arriving, the De Havilland DHC-8-402 encountered “a suspected landing gear issue,” an Air Canada spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email Monday. The airline said the cause is “currently unknown” and will be investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Air Canada and PAL.
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Air Canada Express Flight
One passenger, Nikki Valentine, told a Canadian news agency CBC News that the plane landed angling to the left and she heard “what almost sounded like a crash sound” when the left wing of the plane hit the pavement. The plane then continued to glide for “good” speed.
“The plane shook a lot and we started seeing fire on the left side of the plane and smoke started coming into the windows,” said Valentine.
Passengers and crew were evacuated after the rough passage. “As a result, the aircraft was unable to reach the building and customers were offloaded using a bus,” the airline said. “No injuries were reported, but We understand that this incident was difficult for customers and we remain available to assist them.”
The incident closed the airstrip for about 90 minutes that night. A flight crew has been unloading the cabin and checking the bags to bring the passengers together.
TSB investigators arrived on the scene Sunday to move the plane to a safe location and will assist with a “technical inspection of the aircraft, focusing specifically on the left landing gear,” the agency told USA TODAY in e-mail TSB said it will also look into other issues such as human factors, the weather, the aircraft's maintenance history and the airline's operators.
The incident happened just one day before the Jeju Air plane crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday, killing all but two of the 181 people on board. Although the exact cause of the crash is still under investigation, aviation experts told USA TODAY that the airline has a history of fatal incidents. “very rare.”
“Commercial aviation is statistically the safest mode of transportation,” said airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, adding that the global aviation industry “collaborates widely” on best practices and related issues. to safety.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Air Canada plane skids down runway during hard landing, catches fire
