PAL Airlines plane loses a wheel for second time in under two weeks, lands safely

ST. JOHN'S — Canadian carrier PAL Airlines has taken one of its aircraft out of service after it lost a wheel during a flight, the second such incident involving the same plane in less than two weeks. The incident has raised questions about the aircraft's safety and the effectiveness of the maintenance it underwent.

The latest incident occurred on Thursday, Nov. 12, as the plane was flying from Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, to Deer Lake, Newfoundland and Labrador.

The crew diverted the flight and landed at St. John's International Airport as emergency crews were deployed. The aircraft landed safely and no injuries were reported.

Plane loses wheel on takeoff

The aircraft lost a wheel on takeoff from Happy Valley-Goose Bay airport, prompting the crew of Flight 411 to take precautionary measures.

Air traffic recordings showed that the crew told the control tower a wheel had been lost before heading to St. John's instead of the planned destination.

The plane landed at about 4:10 p.m. local time while fire and emergency vehicles waited near the runway.

The Royal Newfoundland Constabulary confirmed that its officers responded to a report of an aircraft experiencing a mechanical problem and left the scene after the plane landed successfully.

Authorities did not report any injuries among passengers or crew.

Second incident for the same plane in 13 days

The seriousness of the incident lies in the fact that the same aircraft had a similar one on Oct. 30, 2026, when it lost a wheel while landing at Wabush airport in Labrador.

The earlier flight was Flight 901. One of its passengers, a producer who works for CBC, filmed the moment the wheel separated from the landing gear.

Despite that incident, the plane completed a normal landing at the time and no one was hurt.

PAL Airlines said the aircraft underwent extensive maintenance after the first incident, carried out in line with the manufacturer's guidelines.

The recurrence of the wheel loss less than two weeks later led the company to take additional steps and investigate what caused the problem to happen again.

Airline pulls the aircraft from service

Joseph Galimberti, PAL Airlines' senior vice-president of public affairs, said the company decided to ground the affected aircraft and subject it to a new technical inspection.

He said the aircraft is a Dash 8-400, a type the company uses on regional flights within eastern Canada.

The company also announced precautionary inspections of the wheel assemblies on the rest of its aircraft of the same type, to confirm the safety of its fleet.

It stressed that it is working with Transport Canada and the aircraft's manufacturer, De Havilland Aircraft of Canada, to review the circumstances of the incident and identify the source of the fault.

The authorities concerned have not yet announced the final cause of the wheel separating for a second time.

Chartered flight for a Canadian mining company

CBC reported that the aircraft was operating a charter flight for Vale Base Metals, a company in the mining sector.

Company spokesperson Angela Sullivan confirmed that all passengers and crew members are fine and that the company is in contact with PAL Airlines to learn the details of what happened.

She said the safety of people remains the company's main priority in dealing with the incident.

For its part, the airline said it has made arrangements to rebook passengers on alternative flights so they can reach their destination as soon as possible.

Reports did not disclose the exact number of people on board during the incident.

Aviation safety questions in Canada

The repeated incident involving the same aircraft raises questions about the nature of the mechanical fault and whether it is linked to the earlier maintenance work.

After the October incident, the company had pointed to a fault in one of the wheel bearings, but it has not been confirmed whether the same cause was behind the new incident.

Technical inspections and co-operation with the relevant authorities are expected to help identify the problem and the measures needed to prevent it from happening again.

PAL Airlines is an important regional carrier in eastern Canada, providing flights that connect communities and cities in Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec.

Although both landings were successful and no one was injured, the company decided to keep the aircraft out of service until the necessary inspections are complete, while continuing to review the safety of the rest of its planes.