Air Canada plane leaves Halifax runway on ‘abrupt’ landing

Air Canada flight 624 rests off the runway after landing at Stanfield International Airport in Halifax, Canada on Sunday, March. 29, 2015. Air Canada says at least 22 people were taken to hospital. The flight had 132 passengers and five crew members. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Andrew Vaughan)

An Air Canada plane made an “abrupt” landing and skidded off the runway at the Halifax airport in bad weather, and officials said early Sunday that 25 people were taken to a hospital for observation and treatment of minor injuries.

The airline said a preliminary count showed Flight AC624, which left Toronto late Saturday, had 132 passengers and five crew members. Flight tracking service FlightAware showed that the plane is an AirbusA320.

“We are thankful no serious injuries have been reported,” Halifax Stanfield International Airport tweeted. The airport said its airfield remained closed.

Airport spokesman Peter Spurway said the aircraft touched down in stormy conditions.

“It came down pretty hard and then skidded off the runway,” Spurway said. He said he didn’t know whether runway conditions played a role.

The Halifax region is currently under a snowfall warning, with an Environment Canada alert saying, “Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.”

Power went off at the airport, which meant an emergency response center had to be moved to a nearby hotel, Spurway said.

The cause of the outage was not clear, but Nova Scotia Power said they had since restored service.

Mike Magnus, a businessman who was on the plane, said the plane was at the “furthest tip of the airport” when it stopped. He says he heard that the plane may have clipped a power line that caused the power outage at the airport.

“It was so chaotic at the time. I’m pretty sure the landing gear broke on it. The engine on my side popped off,” the 60-year-old said by phone from Halifax.

Magnus believes at least one engine was torn off the Airbus A320. He says the nose of the plane was sheared off and he believes the wings were damaged too.

He added that the snow that covered the runway likely deadened any sparks that may have caused a fire and engulfed the plane.

“The snow caused it and the snow saved it,” he said.

Flight tracking site Flightradar24 listed several cancelled flights at the airport Sunday morning.

Magnus was released from hospital after being treated for minor injuries to his shoulder and jaw.

“I’m safe and that’s all that matters. I’m going to have a glass of wine,” he said.

Source:: Indian Express