Air Canada plane catches fire on landing hours after South Korea crash; airport shut

Just hours after the tragic plane crash in South Korea, a portion of an Air Canada plane caught fire after skidding down the runway at the Halifax airport. The airport was briefly shut down as a result, according to CBC News.

Air Canada Flight 2259, operated by PAL Airlines, had just arrived from St. John’s, Newfoundland, when a malfunction in the landing gear triggered a fire that spread across part of the aircraft.

According to initial reports, the runway mishap began when one of the plane’s tires failed to deploy correctly. The resulting imbalance caused the aircraft’s wing to scrape along the tarmac, sparking a fire.

Nikki Valentine, a passenger on board, told CBC News, “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. “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.”

Emergency response teams quickly mobilized to handle the situation. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

In a statement, airport authorities confirmed the emergency and assured the public that a thorough investigation was underway to determine the exact cause of the landing gear failure.

This incident came hours after another aviation tragedy earlier in the day. A Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by Jeju Air crashed at Muan International Airport in South Korea, claiming the lives of at least 120 people.

Source: Times of India
--Agencies