Passenger jet skids off runway, in flames at Toronto airport

Zorba · Post by **Zorba** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:00

Could be indeed Avro, we'll know it in the next few hours / days, when they can find the black boxes and ask questions too the pilots.

I'm happy they are reporting lots of survivors!

McSteve · Post by **McSteve** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:06

http://www.pulse24.com/plugins/live_audio/cp24audio.asx live audio of tv station covering it

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:07

for those without CNN or BBC World Service: everybody escaped on time, no casualties, only 14 pax with minor injuries.

source : live press conference Steve Shaw, "Greater Toronto Airport Authorities"

B744skipper · Post by **B744skipper** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:10

I saw some close up live footage of the aircraft, and the aircraft seemed to have burned behind the wings. So I guess that especially in front of the wings passengers have had enough time to escape the inferno. There also was an interview with a survivor on the BBC, who told roughly the same story as Avro reported.

Maybe the fire broke out after the passengers started fleeing the aircraft, so I guess it could be possible that everyone survived, I would really hope that so much. Also the pilot seems to have survived the accident and has been sent to a hospital. RTL news reports that all the passengers have survived!

"Geluk in een ongeluk!"

@Avro, lightning strike usually does not cause severe problems for the aircraft, but I won't rule out the possibility. I think that it has more to do with some hefty winds and/or heavy rainfall, which could have caused the aircraft to lose its grip on the runway and sliding of it. If lightning would have it, it would not have caused problems when the aircraft was on the runway. When lightning would have struck while the aircraft still was in the air, this would probably have turned out much more badly.
But let's see what the investigators will find out, I'm heading for my bed right now (and sleeping happy knowing everyone has survived).

@MrAirbus, please f*ck-off with your childish comments, they really are made by someone with a sick love for Airbus. You do not show the real spirit that aviation lovers have. Yes, we do have all our preferences, but we do not show them in such a no-brainer way you do (I have noticed this more often) but we try to support them with arguments. Enough about that, let's return to the discussion.

Zorba · Post by **Zorba** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:14

God I hate media!

Now they are saying it could be they blow a tire during take off in CDG and that their are more blown during landing

JDarby · Post by **JDarby** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:20

Very weird day. It was very hot and clear this morning. All of the sudden, it turned very cloudy and wet. Lots of thunderstorms.

bits44 · Post by **bits44** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:25

cbc is reporting 14 minor injuries, no fatalities at this time.

http://www.cbc.ca/regionalnews/caches/p ... fire080205

Post by **luchtzak** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:52

CNN is still giving a live coverage of this disaster, all 297 passengers and 12 crew got out alive, only 14 passengers got slightly injured.

Because of adverse weather conditions the Airbus A340 skidded of the runway and caught fire minutes later.

Ovostar · Post by **Ovostar** » 03 Aug 2005, 00:52

if everyone survived, what a miracle! I am relieved...
i am impressed by the courage of these 309 passengers who managed to evacuate the plane.

Glider · Post by **Glider** » 03 Aug 2005, 01:07

Why suddenly 309... Media influence... Oh well, that doesn't matter! Most important is that (said by the media) they are all safe! Hope the ones with the minor injuries will recover very soon!

Ovostar · Post by **Ovostar** » 03 Aug 2005, 01:12

Sorry 297 passengers and 12 crew members euals 311 people. I am impressed by all of them, Passengers and crew members...

Tjipke · Post by **Tjipke** » 03 Aug 2005, 01:13

Unbelievable !!!!

Looking at the images on CNN, I can only congratulate the whole crew of this flight who got out all the pax alive . : 8O
It is an extreme example of a very well trained crew under these circumstances.
Everybody survived this disaster !!!!

A triple HOORAY for these guys......

JVJASON · Post by **JVJASON** » 03 Aug 2005, 01:18

According to CNN coverage :

- A passenger said all the lights went down in the cabin just before the landing (maybe due to a lightning ?), but the landing was OK; after that it was obvious that the captain got problems with the brakes and could not stop the plane before the end of the runway
- A witness saw the plane landing properly, but with strong winds, rain and lightnings; he also heard the reverses in function, but the plane continued his way quite too fast until it plunged in a ravine at the end of the runway and went on fire some minutes later
- The airport was on "red alert" at the time of the accident : due to the presence of lightnings, the planes and vehicules weren't allowed to move

Quite a miracle in fact, only 14 passengers injured.

BTW it seems that the tail didn't separate from the rest of th efuselage during the crash : it collapsed quite a long time after, while the fire trucks were trying to contain the flames - maybe due to the heat ?

MrAirbus · Post by **MrAirbus** » 03 Aug 2005, 01:22

Avro wrote:
MrAirbus wrote:Nooo...Not Airbus....
What a childish comment.

People might have died on a terrible crash and all you come up to say is that you don't want it to be an Airbus plane ???

Think about what you said.

Chris

My computer "staled" so i could write much more!

By the way, you should think what you write!

MD-11er · Post by **MD-11er** » 03 Aug 2005, 02:45

Only in French, but this is what the 2nd in line at Air France said this evening in a official comunique

Déclaration de Jean-François Colin, directeur général adjoint d'Air France
Roissy, le 3 août 2005

Comme vous le savez, Air France vient de connaître cette nuit un grave accident. Le vol AF 358, transportant 297 passagers et 12 membres d'équipage, parti de Roissy à 13h32 à destination de Toronto est sorti de piste à l'atterrissage et a pris feu, vers 22h10 heure de Paris. On ne déplore aucun décès, les passagers et les membres d'équipage ayant pu être évacués avant l'incendie de l'appareil. 22 blessés légers ont été accueillis par 5 hôpitaux de Toronto.

Air France met à la disposition de leurs familles et de leurs proches les numéros suivants :
- pour la France, le 0 800 800 812
- pour le Canada, le + 33 1 56 93 10 00.

La compagnie Air France met d'ores et déjà tout en œuvre pour apporter son aide à ses passagers, ainsi que tous les moyens matériels et psychologiques, dont ils pourront avoir besoin. Pour ceux d'entre eux qui le souhaitent, bien évidemment, Air France va assurer, dans les plus brefs délais, leur rapatriement. Par ailleurs, Air France dédommagera naturellement les passagers.

A ce stade, il est prématuré d'évoquer les causes de l'accidents. Les différentes enquêtes qui vont être menées permettront de les préciser.

La compagnie Air France précise que l'appareil, un Airbus A340 immatriculé F-GLZQ, a été réceptionné neuf le 7 septembre 1999. Il totalisait à ce jour 28.418 heures de vol, et 3.711 décollages et atterrissages. La dernière visite d'entretien a eu lieu le 5 juillet 2005 à CDG.

Les deux pilotes de l'appareil et le personnel navigant commercial sont des personnels expérimentés de la compagnie. Entré à Air France en 1982, le commandant de bord, âgé de 57 ans, totalise à ce jour plus de 15.000 heures de vols, dont plus de 1.800 heures sur Airbus A340. Le copilote, âgé de 43 ans, compte pour sa part 10.700 heures de vol, dont 2.500 sur A340. Il est entré à Air France en 1985.

Air France rend hommage à l'équipage, au commandant de bord, au copilote et au personnel navigant commercial qui grâce à leur sang froid et leur professionnalisme ont permis d'éviter que cette catastrophe aérienne se transforme en un drame. Le copilote avant d'être lui même hospitalisé, a pris le soin de faire le tour de l'appareil pour s'assurer qu'aucun passager n'était resté à bord.

Le président Spinetta et l'ensemble de la compagnie tiennent à exprimer leur plus grande solidarité à l'égard des passagers et de leurs familles.

Airbus330lover · Post by **Airbus330lover** » 03 Aug 2005, 02:54

First of all, no dead.
Before any comment without arguments, we should wait until next official information.
How many time have we found the reason of a crash in the first 12 hours after the crash.
After a few months of inquiry, will we have the REAL explanation.

Wait and see

JDarby · Post by **JDarby** » 03 Aug 2005, 03:20

Press release from Pearson Airport:
http://www.gtaa.com/Index.aspx?Sid=Node ... RESSID=413

SN30952 · Post by **SN30952** » 03 Aug 2005, 03:50

Airport: Toronto's Pearson International Airport ( -closed to other traffic after the accident, with planes diverted to other airports in Hamilton and Ottawa)
Airline: Air France
Flight: AF358 left Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris at 1:32 p.m. local time and was to land at 4:12 p.m. Toronto time.
O/D: CDG-YYZ
Time: 4:03 p.m. loc
Phase of flight: landing, stormy touchdown.
WX - Condition: stormy weather, severe thunderstorms reported in the area, as well as a heavy downpour at the time the jet left the runway.*
Look at the windspeed at 04:00am! (not 4pm) Corrected (sorry - j'ai glisse chef!) Read please: windspeed at 04:00pm! (not 4am)

Wind shear possible cause for Air France crash in Toronto, most probably a weather-related issue. The airport had been under a "red alert," which indicates the potential of lightening, when the plane went down at 4:03 p.m.

SOB: Pax 297, Crew 12 Some source mention TTL 307
Casualties: No dead, 24 injured into hospital, including captain. Some passengers reportedly suffering from smoke inhalation. Adding up to some 40now.
Aircraft: Airbus A340 F-GLZQ, in service since 07/09/1999 @ AF.
Runway: The plane was attempting to land on runway 2-4 left.
Accident: aircraft burst into flames after overshooting runway.
Did lightning hit the A340 in the landing phase? That is only hypothesis.
More arrivals and departures were delayed @ YYZ in the same lap of time the incident happened.
Pictures:
Free Video

WITNESSES:
- Since 12:20 a.m. we'd been experiencing a series of thunder cells that came through with lightening.
- At the time the rain was coming down sideways. It was a vicious, vicious thunderstorm.
- Just as we landed, the lights turned off and that's unusual. The captain wanted to lower the plane as quickly as possible.
- The plane touched ground and we felt it was going off road and hitting a ravine.
Thunderstorms create the possibility of wind shear - the sudden, dangerous air currents that can push an aircraft into the ground during takeoff and landing.

Note: I posted an item on Luchtzak in the last 24h concerning windsheer, and a regrettable incident that happened in DFW: Tuesday's crash came exactly 20 years after that crash at Dallas-Forth Worth airport, which killed more than 137 people, pushed the United States to install systems to detect wind shear at almost all its major airports. Wind shear was also blamed in 1975, when Eastern Airlines Flight 66 fell from the sky while trying to land in a thunderstorm at Kennedy International Airport.

I forgot: It was the first time an Airbus A340 had crashed in its 13 years of commercial service.

lastrow · Post by **lastrow** » 03 Aug 2005, 09:05

good job! Thanks to this forum for bringing up all the points behind this sad accident.

I wondered, if there were any guidelines at the time of landing for pilots to follow. I have read somethink like read-aleart for weather conditions. Did these weather conditions imply something for the pilots?

Vinnie-Winnie · Post by **Vinnie-Winnie** » 03 Aug 2005, 09:13

Wow amazing everybody survived! Only a few passengers had minor injuries! The a340 though is apparently broken in half (so says the independent)

Why is that? Awful Landing?

Aviation24.be

Passenger jet skids off runway, in flames at Toronto airport

Round up of the data as per 03AUG 02:00GMT