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Breaking News....Air France has had an A340 (according to the news) crash in Toronto Pearson airport. I realize this is a NYC aviation board, but I'm sure at some point we have all seen or photographed the plane involved. No tail number yet, aircraft still on fire.
John
Patchogue, NY
Passenger jet in flames at Toronto airport
Air France flight 358 skids off runway at Pearson airport
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Co...2p.hmedium.jpg
A video image of the Air France passenger jet burning at Pearson airport in Toronto
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 4:52 p.m. ET Aug. 2, 2005
TORONTO - An Air France plane was on fire after apparently running off the runway at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, CP-24 Television said Tuesday.
The television showed pictures of flames and smoke from the fuselage of the large, wide-body jet.
Black smoke billowed from Air France Flight 358 as the aircraft burned.
Severe thunderstorms were reported in the area, as well as a heavy downpour at the time the jet left the runway.
“This would appear to be a very serious accident,” said Paul McCarthy, a former airline pilot, speaking Tuesday with MSNBC TV's Chris Jansing. "The rain may cause great directional problems.
There was no immediate word on casualties. CNN said it appeared that there were 200 people aboard.
Police said the plane was an Air France flight that was trying to land when it ran into trouble.
There is no word on how many passengers were on board the Air France A340 or what their condition was. The plane has a capacity of up to 305 passengers, with a crew of 12 to 15 people.
It's an a340
The news is saying now that there are actually no fatalities. That would be great news.
I heard that something happened right before touchdown, that the lights went out or something, maybe a lightning strike, that contributed to a last minute power failure.
Well, I hope its true that no one was killed. Certainly a terrifying way to end what you thought was a safe journey across the Atlantic.
Only shot I could find on a.net of this particular 340 from our local group is Josh's shot from SXM.
http://www.airliners.net/open.file/582410/L/
Ironically the three most recent a.net shots of ZQ where taken in YYZ.
Even more ironic is today is the 20th Anniversary to the day of DL 191 in DFW.
More importantly I hope the reports of NO fatalities is accurate.
PEACE
Ron Peel
Ron, that's wild that I photographed that bird at SXM. What a nice to remember the plane, though.
Josh
Quote:
Severe thunderstorms were reported in the area, as well as a heavy downpour at the time the jet left the runway.
And maybe one of these days they will learn not to land during a thunderstorm!Quote:
Originally Posted by LGA777
I'll never forget EAL Flt 66 going down trying to land at JFK during a thunderstorm - happened on my birthday in 1975.
This old Air Force saying still holds a lot of truth:
There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.
Airbus Industrie A340-313X, MSN:289 CFM56-5C4 Engines.
First Flight: Aug. 3, 1999.
Delivered Sept. 7, 1999.
Registration: F-GLZQ, SEL CAL: JL-AM
http://www.jetphotos.net/images/f/FG....jpg.38160.jpg
Guys, I'm hearing that the cause of the Air France crash had to do with the heavy weight of thousands of white flags in the cargo bay.
Fortunately, everyone was able to survive because of the experience that the French have with running.
(Couldn't resist a good French joke. I'm very glad everyone has survived, I'd not have made the joke otherwise.)
Thank god everyone survived the crash!!!
And directly from the Air France website:
Air France flight AF 358, inbound to Toronto from Paris, had an accident while landing at Toronto Pearson Airport. The aircraft, an Airbus A340, carried 297 passengers and 12 crew members. Everyone on board the jet was able to get off the plane. There are no victims. 22 passengers suffering minor injuries are treated at area hospitals.
Air France is doing everything to give assistance to passengers who where on board flight AF 358.
Air France has established a passenger information centre, and a toll-free number is available for family and friends of those who may have been on board flight AF 358 The toll-free number is :
For those calling from France : 0 800 800 812
For those calling from outside : + 33 1 56 93 10 00
For information about our flights, please refer to the "Schedule - Flight status" section of the site.
I'm glad everything is okay. I was alarmed when I heard about it. Pretty scary stuff, and amazing no one was killed.
All 309 survived with 43 minor injuries. I guess miracles do happen!
Yesterday I was a little shooken up because today I am flying from MAD-JFK on a Iberia A340-600. I had never felt nervous about flying but yesterday for the first time I did. Then I thought to my self well since you want to be a pilot you might find your self in that situation and your going to have to deal. The nervousiness went away. I think the only reason why I was really nervous is because today I am flying with my dog and I kept thinking if that happend to my plane how would he get out from the cargo hold?!
probably a microburst issue again. remind me what was the cause of DL 191?
the scary part is that my mother is flying home on that flight today (wednesday) and at the time i got the call about it all i could think about is finding her itinerary on my mess of a desk to see if she was on the plane. thankfully, no. phew...
very glad to hear all survived. KUDOS to the crew onboard and YYZ ARFF for thier good work.
Good job getting everyone off the plane.Quote:
Originally Posted by cancidas
Bad job landing the plane. Isn't flying through a thunderstorm, and especially landing in one, simply something you just don't do?
It is in my book. Not that I fly anymore, but when I did, we gave them a wide berth. Way too much going on in and around them that don't agree with aircraft.Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
Side note:
Despite the inferno, the fire hoses actually made the plane look cleaner than it did before the crash.
Before: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/892360/L
After: http://www.airliners.net/open.file/892370/L/
:mrgreen:
That's hilarious! :)Quote:
Originally Posted by GothamSpotter
liveatc.net has an archived audio feed of Toronto approach and tower communications on its homepage
also KLM691 which was supposed to land in toronto but could not b/c it was closed because an 'aircraft skidded off the runway' declared an emergency landing in Syracuse b/c of low fuel it landed safely though. And it too can be heard on the same Toronto ATC audio feed
The irony of this crash is that the landing occurred on the only one of 10 directional runways at YYZ that ends in a sharp embankment down to a river bed. Any other directional landing would likely have resulted in an over extended rollout onto an active highway which most likely would have resulted in deaths with the 343 still being written off. That no one died is a sheer miracle.
An AC DC9-30 crashed into the same river bed after an aborted take-off in 1978. The fuselage broke in a similar fashion. Two pax died immediately and one soon after. Many more that survived had chronic bakc problems from the resulting freefall of the fuselage onto the river bed. There were calls then for the river bed to be filled in. Hopefully, now it will happen.
Anyway, after the 343 crash, AF flew one more rotation the next day with a 343, and then upgraded to the 773ER for subsequent days. I expect the 343 will return to CDG-YYZ shortly.
Cheers
Neil
YYZ/YTZ
How big of a drop is it? From what I can see in the pictures, it looks to me as if there is a downward sloping hill at the end of the runway and that the AF jet simply rolled down the hill until it came to a stop. I can't really see the river bed in the pictures.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yyz717
Josh
Probably a 100+ ft drop over several levels with a 30-45 degree decline I would say. The DC-9 perhaps had more speed and careened right onto the river. The 343 was estimated to be travelling at >100mph when it left the grassy runover and probably bumped its way down the steep hill until it came to a stop with much of the rear fuselage and tail still visible from the runway/adjacent highway level.Quote:
Originally Posted by jakbar
From the photos I saw, I was thinking that it was about 50 feet down or so, and then back up the hill and across a road and down again.
I assume this was what the passengers described as the "roller coaster"?
I think it's time more airports start installing arrestor beds. Toronto was lucky this time.
The 343 came to rest about halfway down the river bed. It did not reach bottom.