An Air Canada plane caught fire during a crash landing in Nova Scotia on Saturday night.

Videos shared on social media showed passengers aboard the plane as it skidded down a runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport while a wing was on fire.

Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told Newsweek that there was a “suspected landing gear issue” when the flight, which was carrying 73 passengers, arrived in Halifax on Saturday night.

“As a result, the aircraft was unable to reach the terminal and customers were offloaded using a bus,” Fitzpatrick said. “There were no injuries reported, however we appreciate this incident was unsettling for customers and we remain available to assist them.”

A spokesperson or the Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police told Newsweek that all passengers and crew were “safely evacuated from the plane” and no injuries were reported.

Why It Matters

The incident occurred not long after a passenger plane carrying 181 people burst into flames after skidding off a runway at Muan International Airport in South Korea.

Officials said 179 people were killed, while two crew members were rescued, in one of the country’s worst aviation disasters.

The official cause of the crash is yet to be determined, but officials said the Boeing 737-800 jet’s front landing gear had apparently failed to deploy.

What To Know

The Halifax airport was briefly closed on Saturday night following the incident.

Air Canada Express Flight 2259, operated by PAL Airlines, experienced “aircraft incident upon arrival” in Halifax from St. John’s, a city in Newfoundland, the airport said in a statement posted on social media on Saturday night.

“All passengers and crew onboard have since been deplaned and have been transported off the airfield. Our airfield was closed briefly this evening, but one of our runways has now been cleared to resume regular operations.”

What People Are Saying

Nikki Valentine, a passenger on the plane, 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.

“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.”

Valentine said once the aircraft came to a stop, it took about two minutes to get everyone to disembark.

“One side of the entire plane was on fire, so everyone was pretty much in a hurry to get off—but an organized hurry,” she said.

Air Canada spokesperson Peter Fitzpatrick told Newsweek: “We are waiting for the [The Transportation Safety Board of Canada] to release the aircraft so we can return to customers their belongings. The cause is unknown at this time and, as normally occurs with transport incidents, the TSB will be investigating, and PAL and Air Canada will support its work.” (Newsweek)

•An Air Canada Express airplane at Lester B. Pearson International Airport on December 13, 2024, in Toronto. An Air Canada flight caught fire while landing in Halifax, Canada, on Saturday night. Gary Hershorn/Getty Images