A Nolinor Aviation Boeing 737-400 has suffered substantial damage after it made an emergency landing at Montreal without one of its main landing gear legs extended. The passengers were evacuated via emergency slides and an investigation is underway as to the cause of the incident.
The flight involved was Nolinor flight NRL662 on November 27, 2024, operating from Quebec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB) to La Baie Bagotville-Saguenay Airport (YBG), both in the Canadian provide of Quebec. The flight was being operated by one of Nolinor’s three active Boeing 737-400s registered C-GGWX. The flight had 87 passengers onboard, none of which were injured as a result of either the landing or the subsequent evacuation.
According to the Aviation Herald, the flight was on approach to La Baie Airport with the landing gear selected down when the flight crew received an ‘unsafe gear’ warning. The crew carried out a missed approach at La Baie and decided to divert to Montreal Mirabel Airport (YMX), located some 233 miles (373 km) away.
The aircraft eventually made an emergency landing on runway 24 at Mirabel Airport with its left (port-side) main gear not fully extended. Upon touchdown, the aircraft eventually came to a stop resting on its number one engine cowling. The passengers vacated the aircraft down the emergency escape slides and there was no fire as a result of the landing.
The Canadian Transportation Safety Board (TSB) has since dispatched a team of investigators to the airport, while the aircraft has been recovered from the runway for inspection and for the damage to be assessed by insurers. Should the damage be deemed to be too extensive, the aircraft could be written off as uneconomic to repair, given its age.
According to ch-aviation, the aircraft involved is 34.7 years of age, having first flown on April 25, 1990. The aircraft was subsequently delivered to its first owner Icelandair as TF-FIC that same year. The plane then operated for several different carriers before joining Nolinor Aviation in October 2020.
The airline operates scheduled and charter flights carrying both passengers and cargo and specializes in operating to remote airfields in Northern Canada. The carrier’s fleet consists of 14 Boeing 737s in total – two 737-200s, one 737-200QC, six 737-200C, one 737-300QC, two 737-400s, one 737-400F, and one 737-800. Six of these aircraft (including all the 737-200s) are listed as inactive at the time of writing.
The incident comes just days after another Boeing 737-400 was involved in an accident while landing in Vilnius, Lithuania. In that incident, the aircraft, which was operating on behalf of DHL, was destroyed when it struck the ground just short of the runway at Vilnius Airport (VNO).