It seems as though flying, previously dubbed, “the safest way to travel” is not upholding its slogan. Yesterday, an Air Canada Airbus A320 crashed at the Halifax Airport in Nova Scotia as it landed in after avoiding a snowstorm. Although no one died as a result of this incident, the plane hit an antenna, causing significant damage to the landing gear of the plane, and it skidded 335 meters falling just 1,100 feet from the end of the runway.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. The incident occurred around 1 AM local time, and investigators have not ruled out weather conditions as a potential cause. Of the 133 passengers on the plane 25 were taken to a hospital, and all but one have since been released.
This is one of a number of accidents in the past year. In 2014 there were 11 incidents, which have resulted in 644 fatalities, and countless other injuries. However, even despite recent mass casualties – the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash and the Germanwings crash – the Aviation Safety Network still upholds that flying is very safe.
And this recent Air Canada accident, reminiscent of the Delta Airlines runway crash at LaGuardia airport earlier this month, is only expected to raise concerns.
The plane was severely damaged – one of its two engines was broken off and the nosecone tore off the plane on during the crash. There was also an entanglement with power lines during the landing, which caused a blackout throughout the entire airport.
Frightened passengers, under-dressed for the Nova Scotia weather, ran out of the plane, some in shorts and t-shirts, terrified and bloodied. Some saw fuel coming out of the plane and had concerns about an explosion.
Regional manager of air investigation at the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, Mike Cunningham told CNN and other news sources, “Obviously it’s too early to draw any conclusions. These things are always very complex. It takes quite a bit of time to get to the underlying factors.”
The plane had been circling Halifax in a snowstorm and passengers were told if the conditions did not improve they might have to redirect the flight to Moncton. However, as the plane was running out of fuel, they were cleared for landing, and made their way down before the crash.
Investigators will continue to investigations to understand the extent, damage, and reasons behind the crash of this Air Canada plane. In the meantime, passengers are simply relieved to be safe.
