Crowd watches as backhoe rips into mangled plane after Halifax runway overrun
HALIFAX — Crews have begun tearing into the mangled Boeing 747 cargo jet that overshot a Halifax runway last week, as gawkers marvelled at the huge wreck — and how close the plane came to breaching the airport’s fence and overrunning a public road.
Dozens of people watched late Sunday afternoon as a backhoe dug into the midsection of the fuselage, which buckled when the empty SkyLease Cargo plane overshot the runway at Halifax Stanfield International Airport on Wednesday.
“It’s quite a sight — it’s awful close to the road. If it hadn’t stopped where it did, it would be right where we’re parking right now,” said Jayme Newcombe, who came from Milford, N.S., with her partner Jamie Fillmore to show the mangled aircraft to their three-year-old son, Riley, who is fascinated by planes.
“They’re very lucky to walk away from that for sure. A few more feet and they would have gone through some telephone poles and it could have been worse for them. Very lucky to end it the way they did,” said Fillmore.