Air Canada flight catches fire during rough landing at Halifax airport

ISTANBUL

An Air Canada flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport after experiencing a malfunction with its landing gear on Saturday night.

Air Canada Flight 2259, departing from St. John’s International Airport, experienced landing troubles at 9:30 AST (0130GMT Sunday) that caused skidding and an engine fire, prompting a swift response from emergency crews to ensure the safety of all onboard, several media outlets reported.

Air Canada flight catches fire during rough landing at Halifax airport ⤵️

• A Pal Airlines flight from St. John’s to Halifax experienced landing gear malfunction
• The plane’s left wing caught fire after scraping the ground during landing
• Around 80 passengers on board were… pic.twitter.com/lSz5dRluFm

— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) December 29, 2024

Passenger Nikki Valentine told CBC News that one of the plane's tires did not deploy properly upon landing.

"The plane started to sit at about a 20-degree angle to the left, and, as that happened, we heard a pretty loud—what almost sounded like a crash sound—as the wing of the plane started to skid along the pavement, along with what I presume was the engine," she said.

Upon landing, the people on board were evacuated and then taken to a hangar to be checked out by paramedics. No casualties have been reported.

As a precaution, flights at the Halifax airport were temporarily suspended following the incident, while as of the early hours of Sunday, one runway has reopened.