Part of the plane catches fire on the Halifax runway after hard landing, temporarily closing the airport

Halifax Airport was closed for about 90 minutes Saturday night after a flight arriving from St. John’s, experienced a problem landing, which saw the plane slide down the runway and part of it burn.

Passenger Nikki Valentine, who spoke to the CBC from a hangar where many of those aboard the plane were taken, said one of the plane’s tires malfunctioned upon landing.

“The aircraft started to sit at an angle of about 20 degrees to the left and when that happened we heard a fairly loud – what almost sounded like a crash – as the wing of the aircraft started to skid along the pavement alongside what I believe was the engine, ” she said.

Valentine said the plane then skidded down the runway a “decent” distance while the pilots worked to stop the plane.

“The plane shook quite a bit and we started to see fire on the left side of the plane and smoke started coming in from the windows,” she said.

Crew and 73 passengers

A statement issued by the airport said the incident involved Air Canada Flight 2259, which was operated by PAL Airlines. The incident happened around 9:30 p.m.

A spokesman for PAL Airlines deferred comment to Air Canada.

Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick says the plane experienced a “suspected landing gear problem” after arriving Saturday evening. The aircraft was unable to reach the terminal and the crew and 73 passengers were relieved by bus.

Valentine said it was mostly full and it took up to two minutes to get everyone off the plane.

“One side of the whole plane was on fire, so everybody was basically rushing to get off – but an organized rush,” she said.

Valentine said the passengers did not appear to suffer any life-threatening injuries but were shaken up.

Fitzpatrick said no one on board was injured, although a Nova Scotia RCMP spokesman, who responded to the incident along with paramedics, said minor injuries were reported.

Halifax Regional Fire and Emergency also assisted, but declined an interview request Sunday, referring the CBC to the airport authority instead.

The investigation is underway

The airport said one of its runways has since reopened. Four flights were diverted and there were a handful of cancellations and delays while the airfield was closed, according to a statement issued Sunday.

Officials from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are expected to be at the scene today conducting an investigation.

A statement from the agency on Sunday said it was “deploying a team of investigators following an accident involving a de Havilland DHC-8-402 aircraft operated by PAL Airlines.”

The plane is still on the closed runway.