An Air Canada flight experienced a rough landing at Halifax Airport on Saturday (28 Dec) when its landing gear malfunctioned, causing the aircraft to skid and catch fire. No casualties were reported.  

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Here's what happened

The incident occurred around 9:30 pm AT involving Air Canada Flight 2259, operated by PAL Airlines. Following the incident, passengers were taken to a hangar for medical checks. The airport did not disclose the number of passengers on board, but one passenger estimated around 80 people were on the flight.

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Emergency response 

The plane's wing scraped the runway, igniting flames that were quickly extinguished by emergency crews. All passengers and crew were safely evacuated.  

Passenger recalls terrifying moments

A passenger told CBC News that one of the plane’s tyres failed to deploy. 

“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," she said.

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The plane veered off the runway for a "decent" distance as the pilots tried to stop the plane, she said. "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," she said.

(With inputs from agencies)