PAL Airlines plane loses wheel again, pulled from service

PAL Airlines is pulling a Dash 8-400 out of service after the plane lost a wheel while departing Goose Bay, Labrador, on Thursday, the second such incident for the same aircraft in less than two weeks.

The flight, bound for Deer Lake in western Newfoundland, was diverted to St. John’s and landed safely around 4:10 p.m. NT, the airline said, according to the Canadian Press and CBC News. Emergency vehicles met the plane on the runway.

PAL spokesperson Joseph Galimberti said the plane also lost a wheel on Oct. 30, when a wheel fell off after landing in Wabush, N.L. He said extensive maintenance was done on the aircraft after that incident, in line with guidance from manufacturer De Havilland Aircraft of Canada.

Galimberti said PAL is now completing wheel assembly inspections on the rest of its Dash 8-400 fleet “out of an abundance of caution.” The airline is working with Transport Canada and De Havilland to find the cause.

CBC News reported the flight was chartered by Vale Base Metals and had left Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Vale spokesperson Angela Sullivan said all passengers and crew are accounted for and that the company is working with PAL to understand what happened. PAL said passengers will be rebooked on new flights to Deer Lake.

PAL is headquartered in St. John’s and says it is one of the largest independent airlines serving eastern Canada and Quebec. The cause of both incidents has not been announced.

Aviation safety stories we have covered recently include the Beauce crash after a Remembrance Day flypast and the mid-air collision near Chilliwack, B.C. Reporting for this story is from The Canadian Press and CBC News.

If you find reporting like this useful, consider supporting Canada News Media, an independently owned Canadian newsroom.