People on a packed WestJet plane travelling from Toronto were unharmed when the Boeing 737-800 slid off the runway after landing at Halifax Stanfield International Airport Sunday amid snowy conditions.
WestJet said shortly after 3 p.m. that all passengers and crew members have left the plane safely.
Seven crew members and 172 passengers were on board WestJet 248. The airline said in a statement that it is still investigating what happened but that it appeared the plane landed normally before leaving the runway shortly after 12 p.m.
“We’ll obviously look into what happened in the incident of this particular aircraft, and take any learnings that we can into account,” said Tiffany Chase, spokesperson for Halifax International Airport Authority.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released a statement saying it has sent an investigative team to Halifax to gather information and assess the situationHe said it appeared the plane continued off the end of the runway onto an unpaved area.
“When we approached the runway, there was a bit of rocking side to side due to wind … but [I] didn’t expect to run off the end of the runway,” he said.
Wynne said firefighters were outside assessing the damage and passengers were waiting for buses to take them to the terminal.
WestJet also said it’s working with the airport authority to ensure people are able to access their luggage as soon as possible.
Passenger Eric Wynne said the flight crew kept people calm and that no one appeared to be hurt after the landing.
“The pilots did an awesome job,” Wynne said.
It snowed in the Halifax region throughout Sunday with temperatures hovering slightly below freezing. Environment Canada has issued special weather statements and winter storm warnings across the province.
There are several delayed and some cancelled departures and arrivals involving other airlines at the Halifax airport. It’s unclear if they’re connected to the WestJet flight or the poor weather.
Chase said the best way for anyone travelling to find out if their flights have been delayed or cancelled is to contact the airline directly.