Watch: Canada aircraft catches fire after scary landing, 3rd incident following South Korea, Azerbaijan crash

There was a moment of fear at Halifax airport when an Air Canada flight rolled onto the runway, with its landing gear failing to work upon touchdown. This mishap resulted in the deaths of two passengers. The flight AC2259 was on service from St. John's to Halifax, operated by PAL Airlines pilots.

Some eyewitnesses recounted the dramatic sight of the aircraft skidding along the runway as the damaged undercarriage spat sparks before the ball of flame erupted into fiery explosion. Videos seemed to show the pandemonium online, showing the plane's wings scraping against the ground and the fire that followed. 

JUST IN: Air Canada flight lands in Halifax with a broken landing gear, resulting in the wing scraping the runway causing a fire

The airport is currently CLOSED.

This comes just hours after a Boeing 737 attempted a landing without warning extending its gear in South Korea,… pic.twitter.com/Givga3hDEn

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 29, 2024

This incident followed closely on the heels of an even more mournful occurrence in Korea, where the Jeju Air Boeing 737-800, which was carrying 181 people, caught fire after its landing at the Muan airport. As per reports, two passengers survived while 179 people perished, including a six-member crew.

A bird-strike caused damage to its landing gear during descent, during which the aircraft veered off the runway, hitting a wooden fence and setting off a cataclysmic explosion. Initially, reports indicated that 28 deaths had occurred; as more passengers succumbed to critical injuries, the death toll rose. 

An Azerbaijan Airlines flight crashed in Kazakhstan on December 25 while on its way to Russia, killing all 38 souls on board.

The cause is yet unknown, but early reports suggest the aircraft might have been fired upon by missiles in a Russian air-defense system while on approach to land in Chechnya.