Freak accident on Air Canada Express: passenger hit in head by flying plane propeller

A freak accident took place on board Air Canada Express Flight 8481 from Calgary which was forced to make an emergency landing on Thursday evening.

The plane, a twin-engine Bombardier Q400, had left Calgary bound for Grande Prairie, Alta, around 348 miles away, according to Canadian newspaper The Globe. Suddenly, a propeller blade had snapped off the right-side engine and smashed right into a window.

Christina Kurylo was hit in the head by a propeller blade that knifed through the body of the Jazz Aviation plane when it was forced to land at the Edmonton International Airport Thursday night.

"All of a sudden, something came crashing through my window and I got hit in the head," Kurylo told CTV.

She said the blow from the propeller knocked her glasses off and left her dazed. Her only injury was a few bumps on her head and some bruises.

The incident is being investigated and no one else was injured.

"I didn't even realize that it was actually the propeller right through the window where Christina was sitting," added Kurylo's co-worker Melissa Menard, who was also on the flight.

Passengers said the twin-engine turboprop plane belly-flopped and skidded along the runway, smoking and shooting sparks before coming to a stop.

Manon Stuart, a spokeswoman for Jazz Aviation, which operates the flight for Air Canada, said four passengers were sent to hospital and treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

"At this point, there is no reason to question the safety of the Q400 aircraft. The cause of this incident is still unknown," Ms Stuart said.