Passengers safe following Air Canada crash landing

An Air Canada passenger plane landed so significantly short of the runway in Halifax that it hit an electricity cable and knocked out power at the airport, the lead investigator said.

The Airbus 320 landed 335 metres short of the runway during an early on Sunday morning snowstorm. It crashed into a bank of antennas and sheared off its main landing gear, nose cone and an engine before skidding on its belly. Twenty-five people were taken to the hospital and all but one has been released.

Mike Cunningham, regional manager for Canada's Transportation Safety Board, said on Monday investigators are still trying to determine why flight AC624 from Toronto landed prematurely.

The airport terminal building went black as the plane hit the power line outside several hundred feet outside the airport.

"That's pretty unique. The power line itself is well beyond the obstacle clearance criteria from that runway and that aircraft touched down significantly short," Cunningham said.

The power cut meant an emergency response centre had to be moved to a nearby hotel. Nova Scotia Power later restored power, and police said a power line south of the runway outside airport property was damaged.