Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Plane in flames after skidding off runway

maleficent · 08-02-2005, 02:22 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americ...ash/index.html

Quote:

TORONTO, Canada (CNN) -- An Air France passenger jet attempting to land at Toronto's Pearson International Airport overran a runway Tuesday, bursting into flames and sending smoke billowing into the sky.

The Airbus 340, attempting to land in a driving rainstorm, crashed into a tree-lined gully, but all passengers and crew were able to escape the flames.

"There are no known fatalities" among the 297 people and 12 crew members who were on board, an airport spokesman said.

About 14 people suffered minor injuries, said Steve Shaw, chairman of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

Air France Flight 358 had been scheduled to arrive from Paris' Charles de Gaulle International Airport at 3:35 p.m. ET.

Severe thunderstorms had occurred in the area just before the crash, which occurred about 4 p.m.

"We had absolutely no insight or hint that the landing would be difficult," passenger Olivier Dubos told CNN. "We just knew that it would be a bit hard because of the weather."

Passenger Roel Bramar told CBC-TV that he was in the last seat of the full flight when it landed and failed to stop before the runway ended. "There was some real roller-coasting going on," as the plane drove into the ravine, he said.

"This plane came off the runway. It slid off the runway and into this gully," said Toronto radio reporter Leah Walker, who witnessed the crash. "It's come off with probably a great amount of force into trees and the creek."

She said a fireball engulfed the plane.

Another witness, Corey Marx, said, "Everything looked good, sounded good. It hit the runway nice, then all of a sudden we heard the engines backing up."

Marx said he initially didn't think anything was wrong. But then, "The guy I was with piped up, 'You know, he's getting pretty close to the end.' Immediately afterward, right off he went."

The plane fell into a valley at the end of the runway and cracked in half, Marx said.

Vito Porto, a freelance photographer, told Global television that an explosion occurred after the crash, throwing debris for several hundred feet.

Smoke billowed from the site, as scores of emergency workers sought to put out the fire with foam.

Hat's off to the crew of the plane for landing the plane, and double hats off to the emergency crew at Pearson for getting the flames out so quickly that there were no fatalities.