"So 3 in the last few days?" — Internet reacts as Air Canada flight catches fire during landing at Halifax airport

On Saturday, December 28, 2024, an Air Canada flight faced a malfunction while landing at the Halifax airport, resulting in a fire. Per Economic Times, the malfunction suffered by the flight involved a broken landing gear, which led to it skidding along the runway. The flight, named AC2259, caught fire soon after touching down at the Halifax Stanfield International Airport.

A video clip taken by a flight passenger was uploaded on X by BNO News on Sunday morning and has since gone viral, amassing over 6 million views, 32K likes, and 8K reshares.

Netizens have reacted to the tweet, with one of them commenting:

"So 3 in the last few days?"

For the unversed, last week, three passenger flights crashed around the world: a Baku-Gronzy flight in Kazakhstan on December 25, an Oslo-Amsterdam flight in Norway on December 28, and a St. Johns-Halifax flight in Canada on the same date.

Some users voiced their concerns about the rising frequency of flight accidents in the recent past.

"Why are too many flight accident cases coming these days?" commented an X user.

"What is happening in recent days. Air travel used to be safest mode of travel. But after so many aircrash in recent past, it seems something is not right with airplanes?" posted another.

"Being on a damaged plane mid fight has to be one of the most terrifying feelings someone can experience," added a third one.

Meanwhile, others pointed out how rare the crashes were, given the fact that the airlines had multiple safety measures in place to prevent such things.

"What is going on with these planes! Between crashes and close calls, it’s raising serious questions about aviation safety," wrote a fourth user.

"Do you all realize how rare this is for airplanes? Airlines have multiple safety measures in place to prevent issues from happening," replied a fifth one.

"In case you're still nervous flying, the statistical chance of any given flight experiencing an emergency landing due to landing gear failure is estimated to be around 1 in 6 million over the past year," commented a sixth user.

"Wow with all these airplane accidents lately we will all be going back to horse and buggy. Glad no one was killed!" added a seventh one.

A fourth flight, traveling from Bangkok to Muan, also crashed in Muan, South Korea, on Sunday, December 29, claiming 179 people as its victims, according to a Reuters article.

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The flight crash led to the Halifax airport shutting down temporarily on Saturday

The Economic Times reported on Sunday that the flight operating under the name AC2259 experienced an emergency at around 9:30 pm local time, with the runway being closed down to respond to it.

While the aircraft suffered severe damages following the fire, all the passengers traveling inside were safe with no reports of any fatalities.

Nikki Valentine, a passenger from the flight, talked to CBC News about her experience on the flight, saying:

"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."

Valentine continued:

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

In the wake of the crash, the Halifax Airport remained shut down for 90 minutes to contain the damage and ensure the safety of everyone on the flight.

The airport authorities responded to the emergency swiftly, evacuating the passengers and transporting them to a hangar, where they were checked by the paramedics. Despite the passengers appearing shaken, no one reported any major injuries at the Halifax airport.

Per the news outlet, the exact number of passengers boarding the Air Canada flight is not known at the moment. However, Valentine estimated the capacity of the flight to carry over 80 passengers.

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The aftermath of the plane crash at Halifax airport resulted in four flights being delayed in addition to several flight cancellations on Saturday, CBC News reported.