No fatalities in Toronto airplane fire
All 309 people aboard a jet that overshot a runway and burst into flames at Pearson International Airport Tuesday survived the ordeal, according to fire officials on the scene.
Forty-three people were treated for injuries such as broken bones, cuts, bruises and smoke inhalation.
The airplane was trying to land in bad weather when it skidded off the east-west runway near one of Toronto's busiest roads, Highway 401.
The jet ended up in the Etobicoke Creek ravine, a small valley at the far west end of the airport, the aircraft's fuselage tipped down and its tail in the air.
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No fatalities in Toronto airplane fire
Your letters:
At first I watched in horror, then I listened in disbelief that indeed a miracle had happened - everyone on the plane survived.
I read several news stories about passengers, and even survivors complaining about delays, confusion, and misinformation about flights.
How sad that in 2005 life is taken for granted and when a miracle happens it is soon displaced by selfishness.
Yes, there was confusion at the airport and with the airlines; an unimaginable disaster had happened. Yes, there were delays, hours of waiting, hours of not knowing anything. But everyone survived.
The crew on the plane and on the ground, the passers by who stopped to help, all did a remarkable job.
Everyone should be simply grateful that instead of burying bodies and sifting through mangled wreckage, everyone on the plane got to go home, or to a hotel room, and no one involved with the flight has to grieve.
― K | Winnipeg, Manitoba
I am a former Air Force pilot and was watching television and we saw the scene immediately after the Airbus went off the runway.
The skill of the pilots, the courage of the flight attendants and the passengers is to be commended by this whole country. It bothers me that virtually all the press people are interested in finding persons or things to blame at a time like this.
I suggest the press concern itself with the superb airmanship of all the Air France crew. Questions having to do with landing a large passenger jet are rarely if ever understood by the press and the general public.
Many of the general public that were on Hwy 401 at the time of the incident stopped their cars, climbed the fence and went to the aid of the passengers. The press were only interested in the casualties and I suspect were disappointed when they learned no one had been incinerated.
God bless all the folks who were only interested in helping.
― Bob Macdonald | Toronto, ON
There have been reports that some passengers are not satisfied with the crew's response. 309 people ? every single soul on board ? escaped death.
I dare say there's anything to complain about.
― Allison Gerrard | Halifax
I am an Air Canada flight attendant with over thirty years experience. Each year I have undergone days of simulated situations and written exams as well as hands on training in the use of all emergency and medical equipment on an aircraft.
The Air France in-flight crew proved that every one of those days spent on training over the years, every flight where we go over the emergency procedures, every take off and landing where we mentally review our responses and commands in the event of an emergency, is necessary.
My advice to passengers is this: watch the safety videos. All aircraft are NOT the same. Pay attention on take off and landing, the most critical times of flights. Follow orders given by the in-flight crew.
Mine is not a "glamour" job; it is a vital one, as proven by the Air France in-flight crew Tuesday.
― J.P. | Toronto, ON
I must commend the pilots and crew for their quick action in getting all passengers off that plane. I still don't know how they got out so quickly.
What frightens me is this could happen again but with a much worse outcome.
The same type of thing happened in 1978, so why did it happen again?
I think they need to look at either closing that runway or making sure that if a plane over shoots a runway that the plane does not roll into a ravine.
Yes it was an accident and the weather was a factor. But to me once an accident happens you look for ways to prevent a similar type of accident. Once is already too much.
If Pearson was operating under the red alert because of the storms in the area why was any plane allowed to land under such conditions? I am sure passengers would have preferred to land in Ottawa or Montreal and take a bus to their destination and arrive alive.
Thank god everyone made it out alive and are safe.
― Tammy Robinson | Ottawa
We have all found out that miracles do happen!
I am a nurse at a local nursing facility and was working when the crash occurred. When my residents saw the story on the news, they all said that God must have been traveling on Flight 358.
The fact that the response to the emergency was so fast, and the fact that there were no serious injuries in an incident that should have killed everyone, is a clear tribute to the professionalism of everyone involved.
Thank God also that the ravine was where it is, or the plane would have ended up on the 401 at the beginning of rush hour. The consequences would have been tragic.
A special "hats off" to the Air France crew. I understand that they evacuated the aircraft in 52 seconds.
― Anne Hart | Niagara Falls, NY
You can call the Air France accident in Toronto a miracle, however it was the constant training and alertness of the flight attendants onboard that saved the life of each person.
A flight attendant is trained to the point of total response to evacuating an aircraft. It is with the support of everyone onboard that evacuations work in under 90 seconds, and situations are kept in control so no one is hurt.
It is the responsibility of each person onboard the aircraft to report any unusual situation, smell, suspicious person etc. so that the flight attendants can handle it accordingly, with the help of the ground personnel available to them on landing. In this case it was the fire fighters at Pearson Airport.
This is a reminder to anyone who travels by air that watching the safety video every time will make your mind more aware for the moment when every second count.
― M. Hill | Calgary, AB
It really is astonishing to learn how every passenger on that plane escaped death. I am pleased this possible tragic news story has a happy ending.
I remember another flight that crashed into the same ravine and the outcome was not as fortunate for the passengers and crew. Toronto's geography is relatively flat where I believe the landscape gradually descends towards Lake Ontario.
So why is there a gully at the end of this runway?
Can't this be avoided in order to allow an aircraft more space to respond to any safety crisis?
― Nik Pristouris | New York City, NY
The cost of an airplane is more than $100 million and the cost of lives is immeasurable.
What is a mystery to me is why there is ravine or gully or creek running by a major airport. Would it cost $100 million to flatten the area and build underground canals for the movement of water in the area?
In bad weather, the runways become the size of aircraft carrier landing strips.
This is the second aircraft disaster in exactly the same place and I would have thought that the first, which cost 79 lives, would have been reason enough to do something about it.
The whole thing makes no sense.
This last incident should move the authorities to do something about it. Or will they wait until Air France sues the federal government for an unsafe airport and then spend the money on lawyers?
― Julio Fernandez
As we stood, horrified, looking out our office window at Dixie Rd. and 401, all my co-workers and I could think of was if all the people managed to escape before the flames and thick, black smoke engulfed the aircraft.
After hearing that the plane had been evacuated in time, there was a collective sigh of relief. The flight and cabin crew have done an outstanding job in quickly getting everyone to safety.
A miracle, indeed, that no one sustained serious injuries and that there were no fatalities.
I can't say enough about how impressed we were with the outstanding response of the emergency services people. We could see them lined up waiting their turn to help extinguish the flames. We applaud, and thank them for their combined efforts.
― Susan Garland | Mississauga, ON
The crash was indeed a miracle and thank God all the passengers are safe and sound!
What continues to bother me is the extreme lack of communication to those stranded passengers and greeters awaiting information about just what was happening.
While I can appreciate that inaccurate information is a bad thing, so too is no information at all.
Is it written somewhere that airline passengers can't handle the truth or are not entitled some facts? Instead they are fed half-truths, lies and misinformation.
I can recall approaching the Dallas/Fort Worth airport back in the 80's when an L1011 did a belly flop and closed a runway. While we could clearly see the disabled jet from our window seats, the flight crew announced all kinds of ridiculous reasons why our landing was being delayed.
― Bill Plancke | Burlington, ON
Congratulations to the Air France crew as well as the GTAA First Response Team for their professionalism.
But the passengers deserve our respect and compliments as well: 309 multi-lingual persons of various nationalities and ages, some experienced flyers and others probably on their very first flight, having correctly followed the crew's instructions for the emergency evacuation of the aircraft is nothing short of amazing!
What also appears incredible, is that the skidding aircraft did not hit any vehicles on Convair Drive, which runs parallel to runway 24L and swings north just 10 feet below the end of the runway where the plane crashed through 2 chain link fences (one on each side of Convair Drive) before coming to a rest in the Etobicoke Creek.
That perimeter road is a direct access to the Infield Cargo Center and is used frequently by large commercial vehicles.
Another note of interest is why were all the flights rerouted to Ottawa (350 km northeast, as the crow flies) instead of Hamilton (50 km to the south), which is very well capable of handling any size aircraft.
― Andr?A. Perret | Hamilton, ON
"Miraculous" is certainly an apt description of the outcome of the crash. The Air France crew is to be congratulated, as are the emergency responders from the GTAA Fire, the Peel, GTA and York Ambulance Services, Mississauga and GTA Fire, and the RCMP.
As well, a hearty round of applause goes to the commuters on the 401 who stopped to lend assistance to the passengers as they fled the scene.
As to the cause of the crash, I implore people to be patient.
We are too accustomed to CSI and other shows where investigators solve complex mysteries in a very accelerated manner. Real life takes much longer. The evidence will be collected, and the facts will provide an explanation in due course.
― David Root | Sault Ste Marie, ON
Congratulations to the crew of the Air France flight.
They must have acted in the most professional and competent manner to evacuate the aircraft and save so many lives.
― Brian Lloyd | Saskatoon
Great news that there were few injuries.
There are various possible causes and also potential contributing factors to this unfortunate accident.
It is important that we draw no conclusions about the cause until the Transportation Safety Board has done its work.
― Dara huiginn | Ottawa, ON
Although the Air France flight crew are to be commended in getting passengers off the airplane, the question needs to be asked:
When wind shear is a known risk associated with severe thunderstorms, why take the risk of landing right when a thunderstorm cell is directly over the airfield?
Has nothing been learned from previous accidents?
― PW | Vancouver, BC
This could have been a really sad and tragic day in Canadian Air Transport history.
But with the great and professional job done by the Air France crew and the firefighters, there were only 14 reported minor injuries.
I can only imagine how lucky the people onboard and their friends and family must feel now.
― Kempton Lam | Calgary, AB
In the midst of explosions and fire people were obviously considerate of each other and helped everybody out. All my respect and admiration to you Canadians!
― Fernando Manzanera | Eureka, CA, U.S.A.
It's about time we get some good news in our world, as so many times it ends in tragedy. For once the public can feel relieved!
― Rachel Walliser | Calgary, AB
I have been hearing words like miraculous, incredible, unbelievable used to describe the fact that the passengers and crew suffered no fatalities and few injuries.
This was no miracle. The reason is clear: on board was a team of well trained safely officers who were well equipped to handle such an emergency - the much underated flight attendants.
Many will tell you that the training and testing that they undergo is much tougher than anything they did at university and their responsibities are far more extensive than most passengers are aware of.
Maybe now the average passenger will give a little more respect to these hard working professionals who are doing far more during a flight than just serving coffee and may listen to find out where the emergency exits are.
― Lynn Surette | Belleville, NS
I work at a hotel on Carlingview/Dixon. After the plane crashed our lobby was filled with fumes. It was very strong smelling, so I ran outside.
It was raining, and I could see the smoke coming out of the runway.
I could not see the plane, but I could see the dark smoke and hear explosions coming from the Airport.
― Matt Rattray
I was dropping off my girlfriend who is going to Germany today. There was sudden thunder and lightning while we were in the terminal.
Then later we began to smell this acrid kerosene and burning plastic type odour. We did not know what happened and were not told.
I did not know that anything had happened until I read the news on cbc.ca. I saw the black billowing smoke over the airport and thought there was warehouse on fire or something similar.
Announcements in the airport are only saying there is a delay because of the storm.
― Ken Balys
I'm curious about why this flight was even attempting to land considering the rest of the aircraft at the airport had been grounded earlier in the afternoon due to the malfunction of the airport's lightning detectors.
Wouldn't policy at that point be to re-route planes to a nearby airfield?
― Colin McInnes | Sasktatoon, SK
It just shows that God was watching over all the passengers and they weren't ready to see Him!
― Jeffrey Kozinski | Chicago, U.S.A.
Hats off for the Captain and crew of the Air France 358 flight that ran off the runway today at Pearson.
This crash could have caused many casualties and I am sure the Capitan and second in command minimized the consequences with they judgment and actions.
However, I am looking forward to the results of the investigation that has begun to know why this plane was allowed to land under such bad weather conditions.
If the airport was closed due to bad weather it should have stayed in the air or been diverted to another airport if it needed to land.
― Mitchell Begin | Montreal, QC
I am glad to hear that everyone is alright.
However, I am very bothered by the comments a passenger who said that in his view the aircraft was too high and coming in too fast.
It is impossible to accurately judge the speed of an aircraft while sitting as a passenger. Unless you are a pilot or have the knowledge of a pilot, you would be hard pressed to describe what speed and flap settings would be required for each type of condition that a crew might be faced with.
We should let the professionals do their respective jobs and wait for the Transportion Safety Board to conduct its investigation.
― Mike Hunturts | Fort McMurray, AB
A passenger jet has previously crashed into that same ravine/gulley at the end of Runways 24-Left/24-Right (Air France was landing on Runway 24-L).
On June 26, 1978, Air Canada flight 189, a McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32, crashed after aborting its takeoff.
A blown tire led to a "gear unsafe" warning, which led to the abort. Tire debris was ingested into engine two, causing compressor stalls.
Two of the 102 passengers were killed.
Some airports worldwide have installed materiel at the end of runways that act to slow down or stop aircraft that overshoot the runway. This is called the Engineered Material Arresting System (EMAS). No such system, at least that I am aware of, currently exists at Toronto's Pearson Int'l Airport.
Also, on this day 20 years ago, on August 2, 1985, a Delta Air Lines Lockheed L1011-385-1 crashed while attempting to land at Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport, Texas in a thunderstorm, killing 134 of the 163 passengers and crew.
― Robert J. Kokonis | Toronto, ON
Being a pilot and having flown jet aircraft into Toronto airport on a wet runway I can understand how it could have happened.
We almost skidded off due to standing water on the runway. That runway at Pearson is NOT grooved as most runways in the U.S. are, so water is not drained off fast enough during rainstorms.
I am sure that will be a factor during the investigation.
― A.A. | U.S.A.
A truly amazing story in which I literally breathed a sigh of relief when they said there were no fatalities.
As an on-call firefighter, I can imagine some of what must have been going through the minds of the emergency crew as they flew across the tarmac to do their duty.
I have to admit, though, that the one thought that really sticks in my mind is about the flight attendants. It must have been "awfully" tempting to take the chute first, but from what I've seen and read, they did their duties professionally, bravely and rapidly.
Given the images of the plane burning their training and professionalism no doubt saved a lot of lives.
God bless you, crew of Air France flight 358.
― Marc Bissonnette
We should ask some really tough questions about why this plane was even allowed to land in such horrendous conditions while the airport was on red alert.
I am no happier than anyone else about airplane delays, as my KLM plane was four hours late leaving Pearson on March 3rd because of a snowstorm in Amsterdam.
I would rather be late because safety should come first, and like it or not, weather plays a major factor in airplane safety at any time of the year.
This red alert was in effect several hours before Air France landed, so there was plenty of time to divert the flight to another airport.
― Linda | London, ON
I was about the half way point of the runway when I saw the Air France A340 Airbus go past me in the opposite direction.
The plane was fully on the ground but it was traveling at a very high speed. To me, the plane was going so fast I couldn? tell If it had just landed or was about to take off, but because all flights were grounded I assumed it was landing.
I am an aviation enthusiast and a plane spotter and I immediately turned my head and watched the plane go past thinking that he was going too fast and that I hoped he had enough runway to stop.
It wasn? until I returned to my office just north of the airport that I heard that the jet in fact did not have enough runway to stop.
― Richard Jackson | Toronto, ON
I witnessed the Air France plane fly through a severe thunderstorm on its final approach to Toronto Pearson airport.
Although I didn? see any lightening strikes on the aircraft, I thought that this was strange given the intensity of the storm.
― Simon Chapman
Let all of us be thankful that so many people are still alive after this accident.
My family and relatives fly a lot to and from Holland. I am 10 years old and my mom and two brothers hope to return next week about from Amsterdam.
I hope and pray that they have a good flight and safe landing.
― Martina Koolmees | Norwich, ON
Congratulations to the Air France flight and cabin crew for getting all the passengers off safely. Passengers must be praised as well for keeping their cool and getting off that plane.
The rescue crews, firefighters and all other ground crew really proved their worth today in helping to turn a potential disaster into a collective sigh of relief from all Canadians!
Thank you all!
― Susan Wilkins | Saskatoon SK
The Captain and crew need to be hailed in this matter. Each and every life saved was due to the actions of the flight crew. Also a lot of luck.
Hearing all made it out of the plane really lifted my heart.
God Bless Each and All!
― Murray Bauer | Dartmouth, NS
Having survived two aircraft crashes I Know God was there!
― Morton Mosser | Winnipeg MB
Something utterly tremendous happened at this airport and to these people, and the flight crew, and to this aircraft: an absolute miracle of profound proportions.
The confluence of weather, perhaps lightning and blinding rain, and perhaps unresponsive aircraft electronics combined to create a horror and tragedy that never occurred.
There are no words to express relief, to describe the professionalism of the Air France crew, the quick reactions of both crew and passengers in getting as far away from the downed aircraft as fast as possible.
If you ever wanted to observe a miracle in your lifetime, look no further; one happened today in a place called Pearson International.
― Joseph Rotello | Tucson, AZ U.S.A.
I remember once landing at LAX in a SWISS MD11 in a middle of a storm and I tell you, the crew had a big deal of work to get that "beast" on the ground.
We touched really heavy first time without landing, then we got a second touch and I felt like the plane was pulled strongly to the right with the crew keeping it on the runway.
I can understand that in this unfortunate landing of the Air France A340 things didn't go that well but seeing that no one died makes me feel that the Air France crew did an outstanding safety work.
I think this accident will teach a few more lessons that will increase the safety of air transportation.
― Jos?Arrais |Lisboa, Portugal
I saw a plane coming in around the time of the crash from the East end of the airport.
I'm not sure if this was the same plane that crashed but I did find it odd that planes were even attempting to land in such severe weather.
From where I work I have a direct view of the airport and the 401 and between 3:30 and 4:00 it was very dark outside and visibility was almost zero because of the heavy rain.
― Travis Ramanaden
Commercial aircraft are designed to withstand lightning strikes. In a low-altitude strike there is a risk of some electrical systems being shorted. However modern aircraft like the A340s have many redundancy systems.
My gut feeling is that a tree or rock struck a fuel line or engine as the aircraft skidded off the runway and into the ravine.
I fear that with the tail end of the plane jutting into the air, the slides may not have reached the ground.
I hope and pray that people near the rear were able to get out in time.
― Jordan Schroder | Edmonton, AB
Let's be happy that everyone arrived alive. Canadians should be proud of our firefighters and airplane crew.
― Victoria | Milton, ON
