Air Canada Flight 189
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | June 26, 1978 |
| Type | Mechanical failure |
| Site | Toronto, Canada |
| Fatalities | 2 |
| Injuries | - |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 |
| Operator | Air Canada |
| Tail number | C-FTLV |
| Passengers | 102 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Survivors | 105 |
Air Canada Flight 189 was an Air Canada flight from Ottawa to Vancouver via Toronto and Winnipeg. On June 26, 1978 it crashed on takeoff in Toronto killing two passengers.
During takeoff at 8:15am one of the DC-9-32's tires burst and partially disintegrated, firing chunks of rubber into the landing gear mechanism. This set off an "unsafe gear" warning, prompting the pilot to abort the takeoff. However, the aircraft was already two thirds along the length of runway 24R and travelling at 154 knots. It could not stop before the end of the runway, and plunged off the edge of an embankment still travelling at 60 knots, eventually coming to a rest in the Etobicoke Creek ravine. The plane broke in three pieces, but despite its full load of fuel did not catch fire. The accident was visible from the busy Highway 401 that runs next to the airport.
The plane was destroyed and two passengers were killed: 73 year old J. Frank Scrase of Victoria died when a rib punctured his heart, and 45 year old Irwin Theodore Child of North York died of suffocation when he was wedged beneath the seat in front of him. Both were seated at the site of the forward split in the fuselage. Most of the other 105 passengers and crew aboard were injured.
The subsequent investigation found multiple causes of the accident. It recommended greater scrutiny be given to the tires. The pilot, Reginald W. Stewart, delayed four seconds after the warning light came on before he chose to abort the takeoff; a more immediate decision would have prevented the accident. The investigators also criticized the level of training in emergency braking. The presence of the ravine at the end of the runway was also questioned, but nothing was done. This failure to expand the airport's overshoot zone was raised when Air France Flight 358 plunged into the same ravine 27 years later.
