Passengers say plane filled with smoke after fiery landing in Halifax | CBC News

The Halifax airport was closed for about 90 minutes Saturday night after a plane arriving from St. John’s experienced a problem landing, which saw the plane skid down the runway and part of it catch fire.

Passenger Nikki Valentine, who spoke with CBC News from a hangar where many of those aboard the flight were taken, said there appeared to be a problem with one of the plane’s tires upon landing.

“The plane started to sit at about a 20-degree angle to the left and, as that happened, we heard a pretty loud — what almost sounded like a crash sound — as the wing of the plane started to skid along the pavement, along with what I presume was the engine,” she said.

Valentine said the plane then skidded down the runway for a “decent” distance as the pilots worked to stop the plane.

“The plane shook quite a bit and we started seeing fire on the left side of the plane and smoke started coming in the windows,” she said.

Fellow passenger Aden O’Callaghan said the cabin was filled with smoke by the time he exited the plane.

In an interview Sunday, he said you could hear the fear in flight attendants voices as they directed passengers — some of whom were screaming and crying.

He said it “took a shocking amount of time” to evacuate as some passengers attempted to gather their belongings. 

“I started yelling. I was like everybody, like, ‘F your belongings. Get the hell off, everybody needs to be safe,'” he said.

Crew and 73 passengers

A statement issued by the airport said the landing involved Air Canada Flight 2259, which was operated by PAL Airlines. It happened around 9:30 p.m. AT. 

A spokesperson for PAL Airlines deferred comment to Air Canada.

Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said the plane experienced a “suspected landing gear issue” after arrival Saturday night. The aircraft had the crew and 73 passengers on board. 

Multiple passengers, including Valentine, said it took about two minutes to get everyone off the plane.

“One side of the entire plane was on fire, so everyone was pretty much in a hurry to get off — but an organized hurry,” Valentine said.

Passenger Steve Mahar said there was a 1.75-metre drop from the plane to the runway.

“In my head there was always an inflatable slide or something that comes down,” Mahar said. “That was not the case.”

Valentine said the passengers did not seem to suffer any life-threatening injuries but were shaken up.

O’Callaghan said Sunday he felt concussed. He said he also had a sore neck and back. 

“Besides that I am OK, still a bit shaken up,” O’Callaghan said, adding he feels especially lucky given a deadly plane crash in South Korea only hours before. 

Fitzpatrick said nobody on board was injured, although a spokesperson from the Nova Scotia RCMP who responded to the incident alongside paramedics said minor injuries were reported.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency also assisted, but declined an interview request Sunday, instead referring CBC to the airport authority.

Investigation set to begin

The airport said one of its runways has since reopened. Four flights were diverted and there were a handful of cancellations and delays while the airfield was closed, according to a statement issued on Sunday.

Officials from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are expected to be on site today conducting an investigation.

A statement from the agency on Sunday said it is “deploying team of investigators following an accident involving a de Havilland DHC-8-402 aircraft operated PAL Airlines.”  

The aircraft is still on the closed runway.

Fitzpatrick said Air Canada can return belongings left on board when the Transportation Safety Board releases the aircraft.