Air France jet crashes and explodes but all 309 aboard make ‘miracle’ escape

TORONTO – An Air France A340 jet with 309 people aboard overshot the runway at Toronto international airport and burst into flames after plunging into a muddy ravine, but with flames licking around the fuselage and smoke filling the cabin all passengers and crew managed to make a desperate escape.

Officials said 43 people were treated for minor injuries on Tuesday, and Canadian Transport minister Jean Lapierre described the escape as a “miracle.” It was the first crash involving the Airbus long-haul jet in 13 years of commercial service.Descending in blustery winds and thundery skies after a non-stop flight from Paris, the plane touched down as passengers applauded, but then there was a loud jolt and the aircraft ran 200 meters past the end of the runway and plowed into the wooded gulley.Within seconds, passengers dived down down emergency chutes and dashed for safety shortly before the wreckage was engulfed in enormous fireballs.”As soon as the plane stopped, they immediately opened the side of the plane where they couldn’t see any flames, and then they told us to jump,” said passenger Olivier Dubois.”And we all began jumping and running.We were running really fast…It was really, really scary.Very, very scary.”French and Canadian accident investigators were yesterday investigating the cause of the crash after what appeared to be an uneventful landing.Some passengers said it appeared the jet had been struck by lightning, but a spokesman for Airbus said that for the moment this was only speculation.Passengers told how they saw lightning flashes around them as the jet came in to land in a heavy storm.”I saw lightning,” said one passenger, Roel Bramar.”Maybe the plane had already been hit by lightning.The reason I’m mentioning that is because just as we landed, the lights turned off.And that’s unusual.So I’m sure that the bad weather was responsible.”Another passenger, journalist Gilles Medioni, said that when the plane touched down “a lot of people clapped their hands, but it was a little premature.The pilot tried to put the brakes on, but he never made it.Then the plane began to lurch and bump.People began to scream and sense the plane was about to crash.””Everything was happening very quickly,” Medioni said.”People got up from their seats.There was a smell of smoke, of kerosene and people looked for the emergency exits.”The plane came to rest on wooded land close to Canada’s busiest highway in the middle of the evening rush hour on Tuesday.Buffeted by strong wind and heavy rain, passengers struggled through mud to the highway where many were picked up by passing motorists.One witness on the ground, Corey Marks, saw the plane come in.”Everything looked and sounded good.It hit the runway nice and all of a sudden, we heard his engines backing up.”Marks added that the jet “went straight into the valley and cracked in half.””Two of us that were standing here, we were about to run over and try to help, but it went up in such flames.”Air France’s director general Jean-Francois Colin praised the crew for marshalling the quick evacuation.”Air France pays homage to the crew, who thanks to their sang froid and professionalism prevented this air catastrophe from turning into a tragedy,” he said in Paris.Flight 358 was a relatively new plane that went into service in 1999 and was fully inspected on July 5, Air France said.Although two of the four-engined jets have been destroyed on the ground with no loss of life, this was the first operational accident for the aircraft, which is considered to have an excellent safety record.The A340-300 of the type that crashed in Toronto can fly non-stop for more than 6,700 nautical miles (12 400 kilometres).- Nampa-AFPIt was the first crash involving the Airbus long-haul jet in 13 years of commercial service.Descending in blustery winds and thundery skies after a non-stop flight from Paris, the plane touched down as passengers applauded, but then there was a loud jolt and the aircraft ran 200 meters past the end of the runway and plowed into the wooded gulley.Within seconds, passengers dived down down emergency chutes and dashed for safety shortly before the wreckage was engulfed in enormous fireballs.”As soon as the plane stopped, they immediately opened the side of the plane where they couldn’t see any flames, and then they told us to jump,” said passenger Olivier Dubois.”And we all began jumping and running.We were running really fast…It was really, really scary.Very, very scary.”French and Canadian accident investigators were yesterday investigating the cause of the crash after what appeared to be an uneventful landing.Some passengers said it appeared the jet had been struck by lightning, but a spokesman for Airbus said that for the moment this was only speculation.Passengers told how they saw lightning flashes around them as the jet came in to land in a heavy storm.”I saw lightning,” said one passenger, Roel Bramar.”Maybe the plane had already been hit by lightning.The reason I’m mentioning that is because just as we landed, the lights turned off.And that’s unusual.So I’m sure that the bad weather was responsible.”Another passenger, journalist Gilles Medioni, said that when the plane touched down “a lot of people clapped their hands, but it was a little premature.The pilot tried to put the brakes on, but he never made it.Then the plane began to lurch and bump.People began to scream and sense the plane was about to crash.””Everything was happening very quickly,” Medioni said.”People got up from their seats.There was a smell of smoke, of kerosene and people looked for the emergency exits.”The plane came to rest on wooded land close to Canada’s busiest highway in the middle of the evening rush hour on Tuesday.Buffeted by strong wind and heavy rain, passengers struggled through mud to the highway where many were picked up by passing motorists.One witness on the ground, Corey Marks, saw the plane come in.”Everything looked and sounded good.It hit the runway nice and all of a sudden, we heard his engines backing up.”Marks added that the jet “went straight into the valley and cracked in half.””Two of us that were standing here, we were about to run over and try to help, but it went up in such flames.”Air France’s director general Jean-Francois Colin praised the crew for marshalling the quick evacuation.”Air France pays homage to the crew, who thanks to their sang froid and professionalism prevented this air catastrophe from turning into a tragedy,” he said in Paris.Flight 358 was a relatively new plane that went into service in 1999 and was fully inspected on July 5, Air France said.Although two of the four-engined jets have been destroyed on the ground with no loss of life, this was the first operational accident for the aircraft, which is considered to have an excellent safety record.The A340-300 of the type that crashed in Toronto can fly non-stop for more than 6,700 nautical miles (12 400 kilometres).- Nampa-AFP