Cuban authorities temporarily closed the airport after a Sunwing Boeing 737 MAX 8 got stuck on the runway.
The aircraft was taxiing to the runway at Holguin Frank Pais Airport (HOG) for flight WG645 to Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport (YUL), Canada, according to The Aviation Herald. However, as the plane was lining up, its right landing gear made contact with the asphalt and sank into it. The aircraft got stuck, briefly shutting down HOG.
Videos posted on X (previously Twitter) showed the airplane at HOG immobile on the runway.
A NOTAM informing operators that the airport was closed was published at 2:09 am UTC (10:09 pm local time) on August 30, 2023, according to the Federal Notice to Air Missions (NOTAMs) System or FNS of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
On August 31, 2023, at 4:00 PM UTC (or 12:00 PM local time), the NOTAM expired.
Data from flightradar24.com shows that HOG had 10 scheduled flights for August 30, 2023, but only four of them were actually tracked. On August 23, 2023, there were nine scheduled and seven tracked flights.
“While taxiing for takeoff the aircraft entered the stop way off of the runway at Frank Pais Airport in Holguin, Cuba. There were no injuries to any customers or crew on the aircraft,” a Sunwing spokesperson said.
They added that “customers were deplaned and supported with accommodations for the night”.
“Sunwing Airlines also notified the appropriate regulatory agencies as is standard protocol for these situations,” the representative concluded.
