http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/plane_fire/It's been described as a miracle. An Air France flight comes to a violent halt in a ravine, 200 metres past the end of a runway, its tail on fire. All 309 people on board get out safely. There are no serious injuries.
Airport officials had instituted a Red Alert at noon on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005, because of severe weather in the surrounding area. That prevented most flights from taking off during the afternoon. Incoming flights were permitted to land, if conditions allowed.
Among them was Air France Flight 358, carrying 297 passengers and 12 crew members on a flight from Paris. It had left Charles De Gaulle Airport at 1:32 p.m. Paris time and was due to land in Toronto at 3:35 p.m. EDT.
The flight was uneventful until the final approach to Toronto. A severe thunderstorm kept the plane circling over Toronto for 15 minutes.
Finally, the pilot felt confident enough to take the plane down on runway 24L in the southern part of the airport.
Passenger Johnny Abedrabblo said he didn't notice any signs of trouble until after the Airbus 340-300 touched down.
"As soon as we landed, we kind of had a normal landing, where people started clapping," said the Toronto man. "But then we started hearing these noises like when you have a flat tire. I think the landing gear ? something happened to the landing gear."
There was something terribly wrong with the landing. More than 2700 metres of runway ? enough to handle the biggest passenger aircraft in the world ? was not enough for Air France Flight 358.
The plane came to a skidding halt 200 metres past the end of the runway, with the nose pointing down a ravine and the tail visible from Canada's busiest highway ? the 401 ? just south of the crash scene.
There were flames and thick black smoke pouring out of the tail.
The scene was somewhat similar to the last major accident at this airport. In 1978, an Air Canada jet skidded off the same runway after the pilot aborted a takeoff when a tire blew. The plane came to a stop in the same ravine.
Two people died in that accident.
This time it was different. As fire ate its way through Air France Flight 358, flight attendants did exactly as they were trained to do ? they got passengers quickly and safely out of a dangerous situation.
They had precious few minutes to move 297 passengers out through the emergency exits before they might be overcome by toxic fumes.
Airport officials say emergency response teams were on site within 52 seconds. "By that time, approximately three-quarters of the passengers had come down the chute and into the field," said Mike Figliola, fire chief with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
The plane was emptied of passengers and crew within two minutes. The rescue operation turned into the job of putting out the fire.
"Fifty yards away from the aircraft, my face was burning," said Figliola. "The fire was very, very intense."
Sixteen hours after the accident, which occurred at 4:03 p.m. EDT, the wreckage was still smouldering, he said. The plane had broken into three pieces.
Aviation experts have said the extreme weather conditions at the time of the landing - strong winds, driving rain and lightning - likely played a key role in the crash.
Transport Canada will spearhead the investigation.
Air France officials, including chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta, a medical team and a psychologist, left Paris for Toronto the day after the crash to help with the investigation as well as to assist the passengers.
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I was in the car when the crash happened. The weather was terrible, looked like a tornado would start.
Author