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.
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.
