Accident: Air Canada A320 at Halifax on Mar 29th 2015, touched down short of runway
| By Simon Hradecky, created Sunday, Mar 29th 2015 11:15Z, last updated Sunday, Mar 29th 2015 13:13Z
An Air Canada Airbus A320-200, registration C-FTJP performing flight AC-624 (dep Mar 28th) from Toronto,ON to Halifax,NS (Canada) with 133 passengers and 5 crew, was on approach to Halifax's runway 05 at about 00:07L (03:07Z) when the aircraft touched down short of and below the runway threshold, clipped a powerline and approach light about 250 meters short of the runway, climbed the embankment up to the runway level and came to a stop past the threshold of the runway near taxiway B about 300 meters down the runway. The aircraft was evacuated. 23 people received injuries and were taken to a hospital, the aircraft sustained substantial damage (collapsed gear, engine separated, wing damage, horizontal stabilizer damage).
The aircraft had been holding west of Halifax prior to commencing the approach waiting for weather (visibility) to improve. Halifax Airport confirmed there had been an accident on the longer runway 05/23 (length 3200 meters/10,500 feet), which is currently closed. The shorter runway 14/32 (length 2350 meters/7,700 feet) was opened about 5.5 hours after the accident. There were a number of minor injuries. Due the cut of the power line the airport was without power for about 90 minutes until the power supply was restored. The airline confirmed the aircraft suffered a runway excursion on landing in Halifax, 23 passengers and crew were taken to hospitals, 18 of them could be discharged from hospital in the meantime. The Canadian TSB announced they have dispatched a team of investigators to Halifax and opened an investigation into the accident. Halifax's runway 05 features a LOC or NDB non precision instrument approach (no glideslope available, common LOC frequency with ILS runway 23), runway 23 offers a CAT II ILS approach, runway 14 offers a CAT I ILS approach. |
