Air Canada flight skids down runway after hard landing, passengers see

An Air Canada flight experienced a “hard landing” Saturday night, according to officials, causing the plane to skid down the runway and partially catch on fire, filling the cabin with smoke.

Air Canada Flight 2259 – operated by partner regional carrier PAL Airlines – had departed St. John’s International Airport in Newfoundland on-time Saturday evening for the approximately two-hour journey to Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia. There were 73 passengers onboard.

After arrival, the De Havilland DHC-8-402 encountered “a suspected landing gear issue,” an Air Canada spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email on Monday. The airline added that the cause is “presently unknown” and an investigation will be conducted by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Air Canada and PAL.

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One passenger, Nikki Valentine, told Canadian news outlet CBC News that the plane landed angling to the left and she heard “what almost sounded like a crash sound” as the plane’s left wing hit the pavement. The aircraft then continued to skid for a “decent” distance.

“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,” Valentine said.

Passengers and crew were evacuated following the hard landing. “As a result, the aircraft was unable to reach the terminal and customers were offloaded using a bus,” the airline said. “There were no injuries reported, however we appreciate this incident was unsettling for customers and we remain available to assist them.”

The incident closed down the airfield for about 90 minutes that night. Airline crew have been unloading the cabin and checked bags to reunite them with passengers.

TSB investigators arrived at the scene Sunday to move the plane to a safe location and will facilitate “technical examination of the aircraft, focusing in particular on the left landing gear,” the agency told USA TODAY in an email. TSB said it will also investigate other considerations such as human factors, weather conditions, maintenance history of the aircraft and the airline operators.

The incident happened just a day before the Jeju Air flight that crashed at Muan International Airport on Sunday, killing all but two of 181 people onboard. Although the exact cause of the accident is still under investigation, aviation experts recently told USA TODAY that deadly airline incidents are “extremely rare.”

“Commercial aviation statistically remains the safest form of transportation,” said airline industry analyst Henry Harteveldt, adding that the global airline industry “cooperates extensively” on best practices and safety-related matters.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Air Canada flight skids down runway during hard landing, catches fire

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