A woman with ties to Nova Scotia is still in a lot of shock after her plane was forced to make an emergency landing at the Halifax airport.
Sara Stavnes is from the United States but spends six months of the year in Pubnico.
It was last week when she was on the first leg of a long journey to Europe to visit her children, when she was a passenger on an Air Canada flight to Newark, New Jersey.
She tells our newsroom the trauma kicked into high gear when she noticed one of the wheels on the plane come loose and begin to wobble while taxiing.
“So, I immediately jumped up. I jumped and I said, ‘Stewardess, stewardess! We have a loose wheel. It’s loose!'”
However, she says, the crew initially dismissed her concerns.
“They came over and looked at it and they looked at me like I was crazy. They said ‘no’ and walked away.”
Then, things escalated when the wheel caught on fire.
“So, then we speed up, speed up and then the wheel starts to smoke and then it’s sparking and then I’m screaming fire and the guys in front of me and the guys behind me are screaming fire and we take off and the wheel is fully engulfed. Like, I’m saying, ‘Oh, this is how I’m going to die.'”
Deflated wheel of plane forced to make emergency landing in Halifax.
Source: Sara Stavnes
Stavnes says, many other passengers then became frightened.
“Everybody is now screaming fire because the wheel is engulfed. Then, the wheel starts to get lifted into the wheel well on fire. That’s where the fuel line is.”
Then, just like that, they landed.
Procedure followed
The plane turned back to Halifax Stanfield to make an emergency landing and arrived safely.
In an emailed statement to our newsroom spokesperson from Provincial Airlines Joe Galimberti says crews followed procedure.
“Shortly after takeoff, Air Canada flight 2267 from Halifax to Newark Liberty (operated PAL Airlines) received a report of a potential issue with one of the aircraft’s tires. Out of an abundance of caution, the crew elected to return to Halifax and followed all standard operating procedures. The aircraft landed normally in Halifax at approximately 11:35 a.m. local time. Customers are being rebooked to continue their travel today.”
Apology
Stavnes says the actions the flight crew took were not enough, with no communication and a lack of effort to “appease” passengers.
However, Air Canada has since reached out to Stavnes to make up for the way it was handled.
The airline sent her two apology emails and a $500 credit, but Stavnes says the offer falls short.
“Coupon credit for the distress. Well, that’s not good enough for me.”
No one was physically hurt in relation to the unscheduled landing in Halifax.
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