WATCH ABOVE: 25 passengers taken to hospital after AC Flight 624 crash. Mike Armstrong reports.
TORONTO – Twenty-five people were taken to hospital Sunday after Air Canada flight 624 from Toronto crashed at Halifax International Airport.
As Transportation Safety Board investigators begin their investigation, we break down a timeline of the harrowing 2.5 hour trip.
March 28, 2015 – 8:52 p.m. ET:
The Airbus A320 twin-jet leaves Toronto Pearson International Airport carrying 133 passengers and five crew members.
9:31 p.m. ET:
The Airbus reaches a cruising altitude of 35,000 feet.
IN PHOTOS: Air Canada plane skids off runway at Halifax airport
10:24 p.m. ET:
The Airbus begins to descend as it passes Moncton, New Brunswick.
11:10 p.m. ET (12:10 a.m. AT):
The plane begins to circle the Halifax International Airport.
“The aircraft did circle for a period of time, but when the approach was initiated, the weather was at the approach minimums,” said Air Canada’s chief operating officer Klaus Goersch.
11:30 p.m. ET (12:30 a.m. AT):
The plane hits a bright orange antenna array nearly 1,100 feet before the end of the runway.
“This caused considerable damage to the aircraft and the main landing gear came off at that point,” Mike Cunningham, the regional manager of aircraft accident investigation for the Transportation Safety Board said during a press conference Sunday.
The plane hit the runway hard without its landing gear, causing one of the two engines to rip off, damaging a wing, and causing the nose cone to fall off.
“From there the aircraft continued forward, right onto the runway itself, it was on its belly at that point and the aircraft skidded along the asphalt runway for about 1,100 feet before it finally came to a stop,” Cunningham said.
WATCH: TSB official giving details on crash including that it hit an antenna array
First responders were on scene within minutes of the plane stopping.
March 29, 2015 – 12:20 a.m. ET (1:20 a.m. AT):
It took crews approximately 50 minutes to get the 133 passengers and five crew members off the plane and either into the airport for warmth or to a local hospital.
READ MORE: A look at Air Canada’s safety record
Approximately 1:30 p.m. ET (2:30 p.m. AT):
Air Canada chief operating officer Klaus Goersch confirms to reporters at Halifax International Airport that the plane crashed.
“All of us at Air Canada are greatly relieved that there have been no critical injuries as a result of this incident,” Goersch said.
WATCH: Air Canada official comments on Flight 624 crash at Halifax airport
5:30 p.m. ET (6:30 p.m. AT):
Transportation Safety Board investigator Mike Cunningham tells reporters at a press conference in Halifax that an investigation has started into what caused the plane to hit an antenna array and crash at the airport.
He says upwards of 15 investigators from the Transportation Safety Board will be on site, with more from the RCMP, Nav Canada, aircraft manufacturer, Air Canada and Transport Canada.
“The big thing for us is to get the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorders,” he said. “We have those secured and actually they’re already on the way to our engineering branch which is in Ottawa and preliminary analysis will begin as soon as possible.”
Cunningham goes on to say that everyone on board the flight was fortunate to have survived.
“I’d say they’re pretty lucky,” he said.
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