None of the 23 people aboard a U.S. military plane were hurt when one of its four engines failed yesterday, forcing an unexpected stop at Halifax Stanfield International Airport.
“The aircraft touched down beautifully, without incident,” Halifax International Airport Authority spokesman Peter Spurway said of the 1:15 p.m. landing, an hour after the airport was notified that a C-130 Hercules “had an issue with an engine.”
Spurway said the crew onboard requested “a diversion into Halifax,” emphasizing that’s not the same as an emergency landing, which essentially means landing in “the nearest place you can get to, as quickly as you can.”
Nevertheless, he said the airport had emergency vehicles “on call if needed,” adding it was obvious from the ground that there was a problem with the turboprop aircraft as it approached.
“We could see very clearly (that) one propeller’s not going around.”
Spurway said diversions into Halifax aren’t unusual, explaining they usually happen in poor weather, if someone on the aircraft falls ill, in poor weather, or when there’s a mechanical problem. However, engine failures are less common, he said.
The spokesman couldn’t say where the plane’s departed from or where its destination was because the U.S. military isn’t required to provide that information. He said commercial flights weren’t affected by the landing.
