TSB investigating airplane landing incident at Halifax airport

Flames shoot out from plane upon landing Flames are seen shooting out from under a plane during a landing in Halifax on an Air Canada flight.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada says they are investigating an aircraft incident at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport that caused temporary delays to all flight operations Saturday night.

Charlie Thoms, a passenger on the PAL Airlines flight said the plane started to vibrate upon landing.

“We landed and then the plane just started vibrating. The fire engines were pretty quick to respond. We were on the runway for a bit before any buses came to get us.”

Airport spokesperson Tiffany Chase said in a statement that at approximately 9:30 p.m. Saturday, an Air Canada Express flight operated by PAL Airlines arriving from St. John's, N.L., experienced an incident upon arrival.

“Both of our runways were actually shut down while the incident was being responded to and that's very typical practice,” said Chase in an interview with CTV on Sunday. “Within the next 90 minutes or so we were able to reopen the other runway to ensure that flight operations could continue.”

“Right now, the aircraft remains on that closed runway pending the transportation, safety boards, sending personnel here to conduct their own investigation,” added chase.

According to a statement from Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick, the plane carrying 73 passengers experienced a "suspected landing gear issue" after arrival and was unable to reach the terminal, and passengers were off-loaded by bus.

A Nova Scotia RCMP spokesperson said on Saturday that some minor injuries were reported but clarified Sunday that in fact no one was injured.

Another passenger on the flight, Carlos Rojas-Fernandez said when the plane first landed it felt like any other landing.

“When it first touchdown, it was like any other touchdown. It was smooth, no problem. Then it got louder and then all of a sudden, a big bang and the plane tilted to the left,” said Rojas-Fernandez. “Before long the plane came to a complete halt and the next thing, I know the flight attendant at the front has kicked off the right safety exit and the left and people were heading out.”

“We started seeing smoke and fire on the left side of the plane,” said passenger Thomas Avery. “Then it came to a halt about 200 meters down the runway and then we all evacuated.”

“Pretty scary. Looking back on it, it could've gone a lot worse.”

-- With files from The Canadian Press.

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