Toronto plane crash

I'm seeing it as Air France From Paris. Flight #358 Skidded off the runway at Toronto's Pearson Airport and caught fire while attempting to land. some 200 passengers. Crashed into a ravine at the end of the runway. Severe thunderstorms reported at the time. Unclear if there are any casualties.

yes just read Air France enroute to Paris from Toronto

Yes, Air France was trying to land...

We were just watching the live t.v. feed in the lunchroom. Looks bad.

The plane is a A340 Airbus on route from Paris to Toronto. The pilot and co-pilot survived the crash. It did not actually crash, it overshot the runway in a thunder storm. Lightning and terrorism have not been ruled out at this point. The plane is still on fire and the westbound Highway 401 is closed.

The plane just explosed 10 seconds ago

There was just the explosion at the front of the aircraft and now the back has exploded

One can see the smoke getting worse (CNN news)

291 Passengers on board....

Toronto sources still saying about 200 were onboard. There are survivors but no word on casualties at this point

This is promising:



Hope it's true.

Me too. Fingers crossed.

The smoke looks terribel.

What makes me wonder is that the traffic on the highway wasn't stopped earlier.

Walter,
The 401 is a 12 lane highway. The collector lanes are closed, but the express lanes are still open westbound. This is the busiest highway in Canada.

If it had to happen, at least it was at the destination when the fuel load would be low.

By ROB GILLIES and BETH DUFF-BROWN, Associated Press Writers
3 minutes ago



TORONTO - A passenger jetliner carrying about 200 people erupted in flames Tuesday after skidding off a runway while landing in a fierce thunderstorm at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Black smoke billowed into the air as the wreck burned.




A Toronto radio station said some passengers were seen climbing from the plane, and that most of the others had been safely evacuated.

Police said the plane was an Air France A340 from Paris that was trying to land when it ran into trouble. There was a storm ?- with lightning and strong wind gusts ?- in the area at the time.

There was no immediate word from officials on casualties.

AM 680, an all-news station, reported live from the scene that there were two explosions on the plane. The station quoted a police official on the nearby freeway as saying two groups of passengers had been evacuated from the jet.

AM 680 also said some passengers could be seen climbing from the plane and that emergency workers said most of 252 people on board were safe.

The report could not immediately be confirmed.

A row of emergency vehicles lined up behind the wreck, and a fire truck sprayed the flames with water.

A portion of the plane's wing could be seen jutting from the trees as smoke and flames poured from the middle of its broken fuselage. At one point, another huge plume of smoke emerged from the wreckage, but it wasn't clear whether it was from an explosion.

The flaming ruin was next to the four-lane Highway 401, Canada's busiest highway, and some cars and trucks stopped on the roadway after the crash.

CNN reported the flight was Air France Flight 358, which was scheduled to arrive in Toronto at about 4 p.m. from Charles de Gaulle International Airport near Paris.

"They made an approach in weather that was worse than what they anticipated," John Wiley, a retired Airbus pilot in Toronto, told CNN.

Leah Walker, a radio reporter in Toronto, said she saw a third of the plane fall and that the rest became a fireball. "This plane attempted to land in some very fierce weather we had today," she said.

Thunderstorms create the possibility of wind shear, the sudden, dangerous air currents that can dash an airplane to the ground as it takes off or lands.

The last major jumbo jet crash in North America was on Nov. 12, 2001, when American Airlines Flight 587 lost part of its tail and plummeted into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people. Safety investigators concluded that the crash was caused by the pilot moving the rudder too aggressively.

It is reported, that all passengers got out of the aircraft - by eye witnesses. What a relief.

People were found wandering the highway and parts of the area near the ravine.

It has now been confirmed that EVERYONE came off of the plane. No fatalities. 30 people taken to hospital.