There were 14 minor injuries, however.
One passenger aboard the Air France Airbus A340, Roel Bramar, told CBC News that he saw lightning just as the plane landed in a torrential downpour at about 3:50 p.m.
"I'm sure that the bad weather was responsible," said Bramar, who was not injured and managed to scramble off the plane by means of an emergency chute. He was the second person off the plane, he said.
- RELATED STORY: Everyone was 'running like crazy': passenger
Flight 358 from Paris had been scheduled to arrive at Toronto at 3:35 p.m. EDT. Something went badly wrong, and the plane overshot its intended runway by about 200 metres.
The plane skidded off Runway 24 Left, an east-west runway laid out parallel to one of Toronto's busiest roads, Highway 401. It 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.
Rescue crews trying to extinguish the flames.
"We had a hell of a roller-coaster going down the ravine," Bramar said. "All I could think of was 'Get off!'"
Emergency crews were still on the scene by early evening.
While cleanup efforts continued and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada prepared to begin its investigation, all incoming flights were being rerouted to Ottawa's airport.
- YOUR SPACE: Send us your eyewitness accounts and photos
- YOUR REACTION: Letters about the accident
The incident happened as most operations at the airport were grounded because of severe thunderstorms in the area.
At mid-afternoon Tuesday, a spokesperson with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said lightning was causing technical problems with the airport's lightning-detection system. All aircraft were grounded for safety reasons as a result, largely to protect crews working on the ground.
Related
Video
- Mellissa Fung reports for CBC-TV (Runs: 3:16)
- Passenger Roel Bramar describes his experience while on board the Air France plane. (Runs: 6:00)
- Passenger Lauren Langille describes her experience while on board the Air France plane. (Runs: 5:20)
- Eyewitness Corey Marx describes what he saw from the ground when the Air France plane landed. (Runs: 4:53)
- Steve Shaw, VP of Corporate Affairs, GTAA, answers reporters questions. (Runs: 8:15)
- Video imagery of rescue crews extinguishing flames. (Runs 2:00, no audio)
- Airline expert Joe DeCruz provides additional information regarding the aircraft that crashed at Pearson International (Runs: 8:44)
- Airline pilot Marc Antoine PLourde provides additional information regarding the aircraft that crashed at Pearson International (Runs: 6:32)
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External Links
- Greater Toronto Airports Authority website
- Air France website
- Transportation Safety Board of Canada website
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PLANE FIRE Crash of Flight 358 - FAQsInteractiveControl tower transcriptSurvivors' storiesKey quotesAir accidents in CanadaAircraft safety tipsAirbus safety recordYour reaction |
| CRASH SCENE VIDEOcourtesy Adam Hardi (Real Video runs 0:43) PLANE CRASH PHOTOGALLERIES Plane wreckageYour photosAug. 3 galleryAug. 2 gallery |
NATIONALITIES OF FLIGHT 358 PASSENGERS
101 French citizens
19 Italians
14 Americans
8 Indian citizens
7 Britons
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