The Halifax airport was temporarily closed Saturday evening after a plane arriving from St. John’s experienced a problem landing, which saw the plane skid down the runway and part of it catch fire.
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.
Valentine said the plane then skidded down the runway for a “decent” distance as the pilots worked to stop the plane.
“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.”
A statement issued by the airport said the incident involved Air Canada Flight 2259, which was operated by PAL Airlines.
The statement did not say how many people were on the plane.
The people on board were evacuated from the plane and then taken to a hangar to be checked out by paramedics.
Valentine estimates the plane’s capacity was about 80 passengers, with about 20 rows of seats and a pair of seats on either side of the aisle.
Valentine, who spoke with CBC from the hangar where passengers were taken, said the passengers did not seem to suffer any life-threatening injuries, but many were shaken up.
The airport said one of its runways has since reopened.
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