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Air Canada plane skids off runway after abrupt landing in bad weather Dozens injured as Air Canada plane misses runway and slides on its belly
(about 11 hours later)
An Air Canada plane made an “abrupt” landing and skidded off the runway at the Halifax airport in bad weather, and officials said Sunday 23 people were taken to a hospital for observation and treatment of minor injuries. An Air Canada plane made a hard landing short of the runway at the Halifax airport during a snowstorm, crashing into a bank of antennas and shearing off its main landing gear, nose cone, and an engine as it skidded on its belly, officials said.
The airline said Flight AC624, an Airbus 320 that left Toronto late Saturday, had 133 passengers and five crew members. The airline said on Sunday that 25 people were taken to hospitals for observation and treatment of minor injuries.
Air Canada said Sunday morning that 18 people who were taken to the hospital had been released. There was conflicting information on the number of people injured shortly after the accident, but Air Canada and the airport later said it verified 23 people were transported to area hospitals. None of the injuries were considered life threatening, Air Canada said. The airline said Flight AC624, an Airbus 320 that left Toronto late Saturday, had 133 passengers and five crew members. Air Canada said the aircraft landed in stormy conditions at 12.43am on Sunday.
Airport spokesman Peter Spurway said the aircraft touched down in stormy conditions at 12.25am Sunday. “They touched down 1,100 feet [330 metres] short of the runway so I’d say they’re pretty lucky,” Mike Cunningham, a regional manager for Canada’s Transport Safety Board, told a news conference.
“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. Cunningham said the plane hit an antenna array, shearing the main landing gear off before sliding on its belly on to the runway for another 330 metres before coming to a stop. Cunningham said there was significant damage to the plane and could not rule out weather as a factor. He also said he believed a power line was severed, which led to a loss of power at the airport.
The Halifax region was under a snowfall warning, with an Environment Canada alert saying: “Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.” Air Canada’s chief operating officer, Klaus Goersch, said 25 people were taken to local hospitals and all but one of them were released.
Passengers onboard the plane said they believe the aircraft hit a power line as it came in to land and described the plane skidding on its belly for some time before it came to a stop. Power went off at the airport but officials didn’t confirm the cause. “All of us at Air Canada are greatly relieved that there have been no critical injuries as a result of this incident,” Goersch said.
Randy Hall and his wife Lianne Clark were on their way home from a Mexican vacation when he said he believes the jet hit a power line before it landed hard on the runway. There were sparks but no fire, he said. “We were just coming in to land and there was a big flash,” said Hall. “The plane came down, bang! It jumped up in the air again.” The Transportation Safety Board provided pictures that showed significant damage to the plane with the nose torn off and an engine crumpled under a damaged wing.
The aircraft skidded for a long time before coming to a stop, said Hall, who is retired. “We were sliding along on our belly,” he said. “This was not a hard landing. This was an actual crash,” said Mike Magnus, a 60-year-old businessman who was sitting in the first row. “It was the closest I’ve ever came to death. There is no doubt in my mind. Obviously that’s some political manoeuvring.”
Hall said the aircraft hit so hard, the landing gear and at least one of the engines were ripped from the plane. Magnus added that the snow covering the runway was likely to have extinguished any sparks that might have caused the plane to catch fire.
“I was looking out and I saw the landing gear go and I saw an engine go,” said Hall. Power went off at the airport. Nova Scotia Power later tweeted that power had been restored. Corporal Greg Church of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said a power line south of the runway was damaged. Halifax Stanfield international airport spokesman Peter Spurway credited the crew and passengers for evacuating the plane within a minute.
Hall said passengers left the plane immediately but they were left standing on the tarmac, some in their stocking feet, for more than an hour as they were lashed by wind-whipped snow before buses arrived. The couple, who were wrapped in blankets as they spoke, said they saw some people with bloody faces, but it didn’t appear that anyone was seriously injured. “We just kicked the doors out and jumped onto the wing and then ran because we just wanted to get away from the airplane in case of explosions or anything,” said Dominic Stettler, a father of three.
Mike Magnus, a businessman who was sitting in the first row on the plane, said the aircraft 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. Some passengers complained they were left standing on the tarmac, some in their stockinged feet, for up to 50 minutes as they were lashed by wind-whipped snow before buses arrived.
“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. “People were just happy to be alive but after a while it got tiresome having to wait outside in the freezing cold. I only had a golf shirt on,” Magnus said.
Magnus said he believed the nose of the plane was sheared off and he believes the wings were damaged too. Spurway said the airport was reviewing its response.
He added that the snow that covered the runway likely deadened any sparks that may have caused a fire and engulfed the plane. The Halifax region was under a snowfall warning, with an Environment Canada alert saying: “Visibility may be suddenly reduced at times in heavy snow.” Goersch, Air Canada’s chief operating officer, said the weather was appropriate for landing.
“The snow caused it and the snow saved it,” he said. “It was safe to fly in this weather. The aircraft did circle for a period of time but when the approach was initiated, the weather was at the approach limits,” Goersch told a news conference. “The weather was appropriate for landing.”
Flight tracking site Flightradar24 listed several canceled flights at the airport Sunday morning. Randy Hall, who was on his way home from a Mexican holiday with his wife, Lianne Clark, said he believed the jet hit a power line before it landed hard on the runway. There were sparks but no fire, he said.
Magnus said he was fine 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. “We were just coming in to land and there was a big flash,” said Hall. “The plane came down, bang! It jumped up in the air again.”
The flight crew had told the passengers that conditions at the airport weren’t good and they would circle for an hour to see if things improved, he said. The aircraft skidded for a long time before coming to a stop, said Hall, who is retired. “We were sliding along on our belly ... I was looking out and I saw the landing gear go and I saw an engine go.”
“And then there was a window of visibility and we went for it,” said passenger Dominic Stettler, 31, a father of three. Flight tracking site Flightradar24 listed several cancelled flights at the airport on Sunday morning.
Once he was off the plane, he ran to get safely away from the aircraft.
“I tripped over a big metal object, which must have been one of the components,” Stettler recalled. “It was just completely surreal. Parts of the plane were scattered across.”
A spokesman for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said two investigators were scheduled to arrive at the airport early Sunday.