Air Canada plane skids off runway; 25 hurt

An Air Canada plane skidded off the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Nova Scotia, injuring 25 people on board, the airline said Sunday.

The airline said Flight AC624, an Airbus 320 that left Toronto late Saturday, had 133 passengers and five crew members. Air Canada said the aircraft landed in stormy conditions at 12:43 a.m. Sunday.

"They touched down 1,100 feet (330 meters) short of the runway so I'd say they're pretty lucky," Mike Cunningham, a regional manager for Canada's Transport Safety Board, told a news conference.

Cunningham said the plane hit an antenna array, shearing the main landing gear off before sliding on its belly onto the runway for another 1,100 feet before coming to a stop. Cunningham said there was significant damage to the plane and could not rule out weather as a factor. He also said he believes a power line was severed, which led to a loss of power at the airport.

Air Canada Chief Operating Officer Klaus Goersch said 25 people were taken to local hospitals and all but one of them were released.

"All of us at Air Canada are greatly relieved that there have been no critical injuries as a result of this incident," Goersch said.

Passengers told the Associated Press they believe the aircraft hit a power line as it came in to land and described the plane skidding on its belly for some time. Passengers also said they evacuated the plane -- and were left standing on the tarmac, some in their stocking feet, for more than an hour in a brutal snowstorm before buses arrived.

Spurway said the incident was technically not a crash because the plane, which had departed Toronto, is believed to have been under control when it came into the airfield. He added that there is no indication what caused the hard landing.

Greg Wright, waiting for his 13-year-old son, who was a passenger on the plane, told CBC he thought his son was joking when he called from the aircraft.

Wright said: "He said, 'We crashed, we crashed.' I said, 'Where are you?' He said, 'I'm on the runway.' I was panicked."

The airport said operations resumed early Sunday. Federal investigators were investigating the crash.