Air Canada Flight 624

Air Canada Flight 624
C-FTJP, the aircraft involved in the accident, pictured in 2011
Accident
Date29 March 2015 (2015-03-29)
SummaryControlled flight into terrain in poor visibility
Site
Aircraft
Aircraft typeAirbus A320-211
OperatorAir Canada
IATA flight No.AC624
ICAO flight No.ACA624
Call signAIR CANADA 624
RegistrationC-FTJP
Flight originToronto Pearson International Airport, Ontario, Canada
DestinationHalifax Stanfield International Airport, Canada
Occupants138
Passengers133
Crew5
Fatalities0
Injuries25
Survivors138

Air Canada Flight 624[1][2][3] was a scheduled Canadian domestic passenger flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport to Halifax Stanfield International Airport in Halifax, Nova Scotia. During heavy snow and poor visibility, at 00:43 ADT (03:43 UTC) on 29 March 2015, the Airbus A320 landed short of the runway and was severely damaged. Twenty-five people were injured, two of them seriously.

Accident

Air Canada Flight 624 departed from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) bound for Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ). It was carrying 133 passengers and five crew. The Airbus A320 operating the flight, registration C-FTJP, impacted the ground 225 metres (738 ft) short of the threshold of runway 05 (which is not equipped for precision landing),[4] smashing through an ILS-LOC antenna array. This impact caused the landing gear to separate from the aircraft. The plane also impacted a power line, which cut power to the airport.[5] The aircraft then climbed an embankment up to the runway level, skidded on its belly and stopped 570 metres (1,870 ft) past the threshold.[4] The Halifax airport was without electricity for about 90 minutes.

The aircraft was extensively damaged, having lost all landing gear and its port engine. The wings and tailplane were also damaged. Both pilots, twenty-three passengers and a flight attendant were taken to hospital. None of the injuries were life-threatening,[4][6]: 7  and all but one of those taken to hospital were released the same day.[7] The weather at the time of the accident was described as "stormy" (winter conditions). The loss of power to the airport was due to the aircraft clipping transmission lines before hitting the ground.[8] Electricity was restored to the airport by 02:12 ADT.[5][6]: 7 

While the aircraft collided with objects outside the airport perimeter and was damaged beyond repair, Air Canada initially described the accident as a "hard landing".[9]

The aircraft was written off as it was substantially damaged.[10]

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft involved, manufactured in 1991, was an Airbus A320-211 registered as C-FTJP with serial number 233. It was equipped with two CFM56-5A1 engines.[6]: 9 

The captain had been with Air Canada for more than nine years and had logged 11,765 flight hours, including 5,755 hours on the Airbus A320. The first officer had been with the airline for 15 years and had 11,300 flight hours, with 6,392 of them on the Airbus A320.[6]: 8 

Investigation

The accident was investigated by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.[11][6] Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA) investigators from France and two technical advisers from Airbus travelled to Canada to participate in the investigation.[12] As a result of the accident, Air Canada revised its incorrect Airbus A320-200 Standard Operating Procedure.

The final report was released in May 2017, and showed no mechanical faults contributing to the accident, but identified multiple contributing factors for the accident. Investigators determined that the airline's standard operating procedure in regard to the selected landing mode (Flight Path Angle Guidance) was over-reliant on the Airbus' automation and led to excessive loss of altitude. Per the SOP, the crew need not have monitored the aircraft's altitude or relation to the runway to make any subsequent adjustments to the flight path angle after the final approach fix. Subsequently, the captain and first officer failed to notice or respond to the fact that the aircraft autopilot selected a steep vertical angle flight path, causing a drop below the minimum safe altitude. Furthermore, limited visibility hampered the crew's ability to accurately perceive their surroundings.[6]

Litigation

A class action lawsuit was introduced against Air Canada, the Halifax Airport, NAV Canada, Transport Canada, Airbus and the aircraft's pilots which alleges that negligence on the part of the defendants caused the crash, inflicting physical and psychological harm onto the passengers.[13] In December 2025, the class-action lawsuit was settled for $18 million.[14]

On 30 March 2017, Air Canada filed a lawsuit against Airbus, alleging that the manufacturer "failed to identify shortcomings of the Airbus A320", which included uncommanded descent below the pre-programmed glide path.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Air Canada AC624 touched down 335 metres short of runway, TSB says". CBC News. CBC. 29 March 2015.
  2. ↑ "Air Canada Flight AC624: Toronto to Halifax – AC624 Air Canada Flight". Airportia.com. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Full flight information and flight history for Air Canada aircraft C-FTJP". Flightradar24 AB. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Hradecky, Simon (29 March 2015). "Accident: Air Canada A320 at Halifax on Mar 29th 2015, touched down short of runway". The Aviation Herald. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Air Canada AC624 slides off runway in Halifax, 23 sent to hospital". CBC. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Collision with terrain, Air Canada, Airbus Industrie A320-211, C-FTJP, Halifax/Stanfield International Airport, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 29 March 2015" (PDF). Transportation Safety Board of Canada. 18 May 2017. A15H0002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 October 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2017.
  7. ↑ "Air Canada Flight 624 crashes into power line upon landing in Halifax". Global News. Global Television Network. 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 29 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  8. ↑ "Airbus A320 Air Canada plane crashes on runway at Halifax airport". The Independent. 29 March 2015. Archived from the original on 30 March 2015. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  9. ↑ "Air Canada Flight 624 crash: 'Hard landing' too soft a term?". CBC News. 31 March 2015. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Accident Airbus A320-211 C-FTJP, Sunday 29 March 2015". Aviation Safety Network. Flight Safety Foundation. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
  11. ↑ Doucette, Keith. "23 treated in hospital after Air Canada plane slides off Halifax runway". Citynews. Retrieved 29 March 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  12. ↑ "Flight AC 624, Airbus A320, registered C-FTJP – Halifax Stanfield International Airport (Canada), 29 March 2015" (Archive). Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety. Retrieved on 2 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Air Canada 624 class action certified". NEWS 95.7. 20 December 2016. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  14. ↑ "Multimillion-dollar class-action settlement reached in 2015 Halifax crash landing". CBC. The Canadian Press. 17 December 2025. Retrieved 22 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Thomson, Aly. "Air Canada lawsuit accuses Airbus of negligence in Halifax crash landing". Atlantic. Retrieved 31 March 2017.

Further reading

This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.