The plane made a 'hard landing' on the runway of the Halifax International Airport early Sunday, but no major injuries were reported. At least 23 people have been sent to hospital with non-life threatening injuries. AC624 had 132 passengers and five crew members on board.
It's believed the plane slammed into a power line and then skidded, leading to a mass power outage at the airport. A direct link between the power outage and the hard landing have not been confirmed by airport officials. The airport has been shut down and all flights have been cancelled.
According to Air Canada, all passengers deplaned safely, Global News reported.
"We just hit hard and things broke up," says passenger Gordon Murray.
Murray says he’s calm despite the horrific experience and feels fortunate to be alive considering what could have been.
"Just before we hit there was a big ball of light. It hit like a hard landing and we bounced and we skidded."
11-year-old Leon Yu wasn’t sure what was happening at the time, but recalls the plane "sliding everywhere."
"A couple minutes later they just told us to get out of the plane," the passenger added.
There was heavy snow in the area at the time and visibility was poor.