A plane that experienced a rough landing, which sparked flames at the Halifax airport, has now been moved and the runway is back in operation.
The Air Canada Express flight operated by PAL Airlines arrived from St. John’s, N.L. Saturday night and attempted to land at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick said late Saturday that the plane experienced a “suspected landing gear issue” after arrival and was unable to reach the terminal.
He said none of the 73 passengers or crew was injured.
A passenger, Steve Mahar, said the severity of the situation became clear when the cabin began filling up with smoke.
“For a moment, that felt really unusual then you could feel that left side drop, which is when the landing gear completely gave way and the left side of the plane was gliding on the tarmac on the engine,” he said.
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“So sparks were flying. You could just see it outside the window. Then the sparks became flames and then sort of in the moment it felt like slow motion.”
In a Monday statement, a Halifax airport spokesperson said the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) had completed its review of the area as of Sunday night and had given its approval for the aircraft’s removal.
“We assisted our airline partners in safely relocating the aircraft,” wrote communications manager, Leah Batstone, in an email to Global News.
“The runway was inspected and reopened today (Dec. 30) at 10:15 a.m. Both runways are now available for regular flight operations.”
The TSB continues to investigate.
— with a file from Global News’ Angela Capobianco
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