The Boeing 747-400 SkyLease cargo jet that ran off Runway 14-32 at Halifax Stanfield airport in the early hours of Wednesday morning was coming here to pick up another load of live lobster destined for Changsha, the capital of China’s Hunan province.
Thankfully there were only minor injuries for the four crew members on board, but it meant the lobsters were returned to the holding area at Gateway Facilities ULC.
But we don’t know exactly what happened to the lobster, whether or not that cargo was part of another load sent to Seoul, South Korea, on that flight that left Halifax Wednesday evening, or on passenger aircraft that also carry some cargo that were flying throughout the day.
Karl Riches of Gateway Facilities wasn’t answering any questions and was referring all inquiries to the media people at the airport Wednesday afternoon.
A Chinese-owned seafood freight forwarding company, First Catch, based in Halifax has been partnering with Gateway and SkyLease to ship live lobster to Changsha twice a week, since August. The Boeing 747-400 aircraft has the capacity to carry 120 tonnes of Nova Scotia seafood.
Theresa Rath Spicer, who speaks on behalf of the airport, said the SkyLease jet was supposed to have landed in Halifax at 3 p.m. on Tuesday and was originally scheduled to depart three hours later. The flight was delayed elsewhere — perhaps in Chicago where it had been immediately prior to Halifax — and landed in Halifax in heavy rain at 5:05 a.m. Wednesday.
The reason for the delay in the plane’s schedule has not been released and Rath Spicer said she did not have that information.
Runway 14 is the Halifax Airport’s secondary runway, Runway 05-23 is Halifax’s primary runway. The SkyLease jet skidded off the end of Runway 14, which is also the approach to Runway 32, and that was enough to eliminate them from service until investigators finish evaluating the damaged aircraft and it can be removed.
While the accident was enough to throw a wrench into the works at Halifax Stanfield for most of the day Wednesday, Rath Spicer said the main runway was reopened shortly before 8:30 a.m. and things were slowly getting back to normal, for both passengers and cargo flights, by late in the day.
The incident, she said, forced airlines to find diversions for some flights and caused delays to schedules. An antenna, which is part of the airport’s instrument landing system for the secondary runway and was broken when he jet went off the runway, but that was extent of the damage to the airport itself.
Halifax Stanfield estimated earlier this year that cargo-based activities at Halifax Stanfield have a substantial impact on the provincial economy. And every fully-loaded Boeing 777 cargo freighter to Asia creates a number of jobs locally and contributes about $1.5 million to the province’s economic output.
China is not the only destination for the seafood flights to Asia. Korean Air Cargo has a regularly scheduled cargo charter flights to Asia from Halifax. Another is Chinese cargo carrier, Suparna Airlines, which began a regular service from Halifax earlier this year.
According to Rath Spicer, several other cargo operators offer connections to China and multiple destinations throughout Asia, including Cargojet, DHL, FedEx, Air Canada, and Qatar Airways.
RELATED: Cargo plane goes off runway at Halifax Stanfield airport
