On the evening of December 28 (local time), a propeller plane belonging to Air Canada flight 2259, operated by PAL Airlines, had a serious problem when landing at Halifax airport, Nova Scotia province, eastern Canada, CBC reported.
The incident occurred at 9:30 p.m. local time (about 10 a.m. on December 29, Vietnam time), just over an hour after the tragic plane crash in South Korea. The plane departed from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, with a flight time of about 2 hours.
Immediately after the incident, Halifax Airport authorities temporarily closed the airport to ensure safety. All 73 passengers and crew on board were urgently evacuated. The evacuation process was quick, taking only about 2 minutes for everyone to leave the plane.
According to passenger Nikki Valentine, the left landing gear of the plane did not deploy, causing the plane to tilt to one side and hit the runway hard. Ms. Valentine recounted: "The plane shook violently, then we saw flames bursting on the left side and smoke quickly spread into the cabin through the window."
Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick confirmed that the plane had a serious problem with its landing gear. He also said that all passengers were transported to the terminal by bus and that there were no serious injuries.
The incident in Canada comes on the heels of a tragic crash of a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 at Muan Airport in South Korea. The plane also suffered a malfunction in its landing gear, forcing it to make an emergency belly landing. The plane crashed into a fence at the end of the runway and exploded.
