Air France Flight 358

Air France Flight 358 was a scheduled passenger flight from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France to Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.

This weather camera from CityTV shows the poor visibility conditions of the area just before the crash.

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Smoke from Air France Flight 358 billows over Ontario Highway 401 in this MTO traffic-camera photo.

On 2 August, 2005, Flight 358 burst into flames after overshooting runway 24L by about 200m while landing at Toronto Pearson at 4:03 pm local time (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC−4). The aircraft, an Airbus A340-300 was configured for a maximum 252 passengers and crew (BBC is reporting 291 onboard). CBC Radio reported 309 people on board: 297 passengers and 12 crew, all of whom survived.

News reports

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) held a news conference starting at 6 pm Eastern Daylight Time with Steve Shaw, VP of Corporate Affairs of the GTAA. The news conference ended at about 6:10 pm. Reports indicated that there had been no deaths, but some minor injuries (about 14 people). The passengers appeared to have evacuated the plane before the fire broke out. Witnesses say that the plane broke apart before a fireball erupted, according to CNN. There is speculation that a few tires may have blown, and this is an acknowledged problem with the A340, according to an aviation expert interviewed on CityTV.

According to surviving passenger Roel Bramar, who was sitting in the very back of the plane, the landing appeared to be normal at first but the brakes did not seem to work properly after landing. He reports that many passengers appear to have survived. He also reports that the plane was nearly full and that passengers left the plane via the emergency evacuation slides. One eyewitness on the ground reported that the plane appeared to be struck by lightning after it had landed and was braking. Bramar also reported that the plane's lights went out after it landed, which was an unusual occurrence; this may be consistent with a lightning strike, however this is still speculative at the moment. A witness on the scene also reported to have seen lightning strike the plane as it landed.

The plane slid into Etobicoke Creek ravine at the end of the runway, on the western edge of the airport near the interchange of Dixie Road and Highway 401, Canada's busiest highway. It was scheduled to land at 3:35 pm local time. The plane burned for around 2 hours, the fire ending just before 6pm EST. Smoke from the crash extends eastward as far as the district of North York, 16 km (10 miles) away.

Low visibility

The CBC reported that the crash occurred two hours after operations at the airport were grounded because of severe thunderstorms in the area. Visibility at the time of the accident was reported to be very poor. There was lightning, strong wind, and hail at the time and the rain just began as the plane was landing. A METAR weather report for the airport 14 minutes after the crash showed winds of 28 mph (44 km/h) gusting to 38 mph (61 km/h) and 1 mile (1.6 km) visibility in heavy rain, although locally gusts could have been stronger. A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect since 11:30 am and all inbound and outbound flights had been cancelled but it seems that this Air France flight still decided to come in, possibly due to fuel or power issues, according to a report from CNN. The plane was landing at Runway 24 Left in some of the worst possible conditions, and the pilot is being credited for landing the plane in the centre of the runway and avoiding potentially worse results, such as crashing into another plane or onto Highway 401. Runway 24 is an east-west runway.

According to Toronto news radio station CFTR-AM, emergency personnel say all passengers and crew have survived. Some escaped by scrambling up a ravine to Highway 401, which runs parallel to the runway. Reports of the co-pilot and other survivors flagged down cars passing by on the 401 to get aid right after the crash have also been confirmed. Two busloads of survivors have been transported away from the accident for further triage.

The accident snarled traffic throughout Toronto's highway system. Highway 401 is Canada's busiest freeway, and the crash occured at the highway's widest point with 18 travel lanes south of the airport.

Air France Flight 358

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News reports

Low visibility

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