Scary Landing: Sparks Fly As Planes Wing Hits Ground During Touchdown, Aircraft Severely Damaged

An Alaska Airlines flight made a hard landing at John Wayne Airport in Southern California, USA while the region also faced the tropical storm Hilary. The incident occurred with the plane flying from Seattle to Santa Ana and ended up damaging the aircraft. The whole series of events was caught on camera and the terrifying video was shared on social media by the passengers onboard.

The video shared on social media platforms shows Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft making a hard landing at John Wayne Airport. The video shared on social media begins by showing the wet tarmac amid rough weather. A few seconds in, the touchdown makes the aircraft unstable. The situation seems to be getting out of control when the left wing of the plane comes in contact with the tarmac producing sparks and smoke. Furthermore, the pictures of the aircraft after the incident show damages sustained by the left wing.

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During the landing, a person in the video can be heard asking, “Why are we going so fast?” While another person can be heard warning his co-passengers for the impact, shouting “brace” as the aircraft rapidly descends. This is when the aircraft comes in contact with the tarmac making loud screeching noises, and terrifying passengers. One of the shocked passengers says, “There’s sparks outside! Why are there sparks outside?”

Fox News quotes an Alaska Airlines representative saying, “the plane experienced an issue soon after landing” during the storm. They added, “The aircraft was unable to taxi to the gate due to an issue with its landing gear,” officials said in a statement. The Boeing 737 craft was “parked on a taxiway, where it remains.”

The plane had 106 passengers onboard along with six crew members. As per reports, the passengers were safely deboarded. The airline said, “Our focus is taking care of our guests who were on board, including retrieving their checked bags.” They added, “The safety of our guests and employees is always our primary priority. While this incident is a rare occurrence, our flight crews train extensively to safely manage through many scenarios.”