Air France Flight 358

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Air France Flight 358

Camera footage captures smoke from Flight 358 billowing over Highway 401.
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Summary
Date August 2, 2005
Type Weather-induced runway overrun
Site Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport
Canada
Passengers 297
Crew 12
Injuries 43
Survivors 309 (all)
Aircraft type Airbus A340-313X
Operator Air France
Flight origin Charles de Gaulle Int'l Airport
France
Destination Toronto Pearson Int'l Airport
Path of Flight 358. Dotted lines indicate the normal landing procedures.
Path of Flight 358. Dotted lines indicate the normal landing procedures.

Air France Flight 358, a flight from Paris, France to Toronto, Ontario, Canada using an Airbus A340 airliner, departed Paris without incident at 11:53 UTC August 2, 2005, later touching down on runway 24L-06R at Toronto Pearson International Airport at 20:01 UTC (16:01 EDT). The aircraft failed to stop and plunged into a nearby shallow ravine, coming to rest and bursting into flames approximately 300 metres past the end of the runway. The Airbus A340-313X had 309 people aboard (297 passengers and 12 crew), all of whom survived without life-threatening injuries.

Many flights departing and arriving at Pearson were cancelled, and many subsequent flights to Toronto Pearson were diverted to other Canadian airports in Ottawa, London, Hamilton, Montreal, and Winnipeg [1], as well as Syracuse, New York [2] and Buffalo, New York. Flights from Vancouver were turned back. Some 540 flights were cancelled.

The crash of Air France Flight 358 was the biggest crisis to hit Toronto Pearson since the airport's involvement in Operation Yellow Ribbon.

Jean Lapierre, the Canadian Minister of Transport, referred to Flight 358 as a "miracle" due to the fact that all of the passengers survived [1]. Other press sources described the accident as the "Miracle in Toronto," [2][1] the "Toronto Miracle," [3] and the Miracle of Runway 24L" [4]

Contents

[edit] Aircraft details

[edit] Passengers

Nationality Total
Flag of Canada Canada 104
Flag of France France 101
Flag of India India 8
Flag of Italy Italy 19
Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom 7
Flag of the United States United States 19
Flag of Germany Germany 2
Total 307

[5]

The passengers consisted of businesspersons, vacationers, and students.[6]

[edit] Narrative

The accident occurred on 2 August 2005 20:03 UTC (16:03 EDT). Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340-313X with 297 passengers and 12 crew, overshot the end of runway 24L at Toronto Pearson International Airport (in Mississauga, Ontario) and came to rest in a small ravine 300 metres past the end of the runway. All passengers and crew evacuated successfully. 43 minor injuries and no fatalities resulted from the accident. A post-crash fire destroyed the aircraft.

The flight landed during reports of exceptionally bad weather — severe winds, heavy rain, and localized thunderstorms near the airport (see weather, below), and touched down further along the runway than usual. Some passengers report that the plane was rocking from side to side before landing, possibly due to turbulence and gusting winds associated with the storm systems. One passenger described the crash as like a "car accident, but it keeps going and going, non-stop."[7]

The plane was cleared to land at 16:04 EDT on Runway 24L, which at 9,000 feet (2,743 m) in length is the shortest runway at Pearson Airport. After touchdown, the aircraft did not stop before the end of the runway, but continued for 300 meters until it slid into the Etobicoke Creek ravine, on the western edge of the airport near the interchange of Dixie Road and Highway 401. The fire began in the middle of the plane, blocking some of the emergency exits, but the plane was evacuated within the regulated 90 second evacuation time. Emergency response teams responded to the incident and were on site within 52 seconds of the crash occurring. [8] Some emergency exit slides failed to deploy, forcing some passengers to jump out of the aircraft. The first officer was the last to leave the plane. The actions of the flight attendants, who ensured that all of the passengers quickly evacuated, contributed to the escapes of all of the passengers.[9]

After the crash some passengers, including those who were injured, scrambled up the ravine to Highway 401 which runs slightly parallel to the runway. Peel Regional Police located the co-pilot and several passengers along Highway 401, receiving assistance from motorists who were passing the airport when the crash occurred. Some motorists took injured people, including the pilot, directly to hospitals. The main fire burned for two hours, ending just before 18:00 EDT. All fires were out by early afternoon 3 August 2005, and investigators were able to begin their work.

The accident caused the cancellation or diversion of hundreds of flights, with ripple effects throughout the North American air traffic system. By that night, four of the five runway surfaces were back in service, but the flight (and passenger) backlog continued through the next day.

The burnt wreckage of Flight 358 at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Note the Etobicoke Creek bridges in the background carrying Highway 401 traffic.
The burnt wreckage of Flight 358 at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Note the Etobicoke Creek bridges in the background carrying Highway 401 traffic.

The accident also snarled traffic throughout Toronto's highway system. Highway 401, one of the world's busiest highways, is the main route through the Greater Toronto Area, and the crash occurred near the highway's widest point where 18 lanes of traffic travel between Highway 403, Highway 410 and Highway 427. Though the fire was extinguished within hours, there was considerable congestion on the highway for days after the crash, due to motorists slowing down or even pulling over to get a look at the wreckage. Traffic flow was slowed due to numerous fender-benders, prompting the Ontario Provincial Police to increase patrols along that stretch.

In 1978, Air Canada Flight 189 slid into Etobicoke Creek, the site of the AF358 crash, resulting in two deaths. The Air Canada DC-9 used the 24R-06L runway, crashing north of the AF358 crash scene and deeper into the ravine. The runway the Air France plane landed on, 24L-06R, is an east-west runway with a length of 2.7 kilometers (9,000 feet), so the plane did not land very far off the runway, as reported by CablePulse 24. After the crash of AF358, there were some calls for the ravine to be filled or spanned by a bridge. Others said that such an undertaking would have been prohibitively expensive.[10]

According to the Toronto Star,[citation needed] this is the first time an Airbus A340 series has been involved in a crash, ending its 14 year clean record. The plane entered service in 1999 and had its last maintenance check done in France on 5 July 2005. The plane made 3,711 flights for a total of 28,418 flight hours.

One passenger took four photographs of the evacuation with his camera, which were released to the media.[11][12][13][14][8][15] The final Transportation Safety Board of Canada report refers to the photographs and draws conclusions about the nature of the disaster based on the photographs.[16] Mark Rosenker, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, criticized the concept of passengers taking photographs of disasters, stating, "Your business is to get off the airplane. Your business is to help anybody who needs help." Therefore, according to Rosenker, taking photographs during an evacuation of an airliner is "irresponsible." Helen Muir, an aerospace psychology professor at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom, stated that pausing during evacuations "is just what we don't want people to do." Muir added that photographs are "very valuable to accident investigators." Ben Sherwood, an executive producer at Good Morning America, believed that the photographer was unlikely to have disrupted rescue efforts whilst taking his pictures.[14]

[edit] Weather

A METAR (weather observation) for the Pearson Airport was released almost exactly at the time of the accident. It stated that the weather at 20:04 UTC (16:04 EDT) consisted of winds from 340° true (north-northwest) at 24 knots (44 km/h) gusting to 33 knots (61 km/h), with 1 1/4 statute miles (2 km) visibility in heavy thunderstorms and rain. The ceiling was overcast at 4,500 feet (1,400 m) above ground level with towering cumulus cloud. The temperature was 23 °C (74 °F). According to the Air Canada Pilot, runway 24L has a heading of 227° true (237° magnetic), and the minima for the ILS approach are ceiling 250 feet (75 m) above ground level and visibility 1 statute mile (1.6 km) runway visual range (RVR). The METAR for 21:00 UTC (17:00 EDT), nearly an hour after the accident, shows wind backing to the south and improving conditions generally, but includes in its remarks "FU ALF" to indicate smoke aloft from the burning plane.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the crash occurred two hours after a ground stop was declared at the airport because of severe thunderstorms in the area ("red alert" status, which, for safety reasons, halts all ground activity on the apron and gate area. Aircraft can still land, and take off if still in queue). Visibility at the time of the accident was reported to be very poor. There was lightning, strong gusty winds, and hail at the time and the rain just began as the plane was landing. Within two hours the winds increased from 5 to 30 km/h (3 to 20 mph) and the temperature dropped from 30 to 23 °C (86 to 74°F). A severe thunderstorm warning was in effect since 11:30 a.m. and all outbound flights and ground servicing operations had been canceled but landings were still permitted.

This accident is also featured on The Weather Channel television program Storm Stories. An episode of the National Geographic Channel's Mayday (Air Crash Investigation, Air Emergency) series also features this incident.

[edit] Injuries

None of the passengers on Flight 358 were killed; approximately 43 suffered various injuries. According to passenger reports, the leap from the aircraft to the ground caused many of the injuries, including broken legs, twisted ankles, sore necks, and ruptured vertebrae.[4] The pilot sustained back and head injuries during the impact of the crash when his seat lifted off, causing him to hit his head against the overhead controls. Those injured were taken to various Greater Toronto Area hospitals:

At the crash site were a number of emergency services:

A class-action lawsuit was filed approximately a week after the crash in Ontario Superior Court of Justice; the lawsuit seeks C$269 million in damages for trauma, any future medical expenses, and loss of property and earnings.

[edit] Investigation

Panoramic picture of the aftermath of Flight 358
Panoramic picture of the aftermath of Flight 358

[edit] Representation

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) took control of the accident site once emergency response teams had finished their work. The TSB will lead the investigation, with the cooperation of several other organizations:

International protocol regarding the investigation of civil aviation accidents mandates that representatives from the manufacturer's nation participate. As GE-Aviation is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada invited representatives from the NTSB to assist in the investigation.[3]

[edit] Evidence

The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder (black boxes) were sent to France for analysis. Preliminary results indicate that the plane landed 1,220 metres (4,000 ft) from the start of the 2,743 metre (9,000 ft) runway (much further along than normal) at a ground speed of 148 knots (274 km/h, 170 mph, 140 knots being considered normal) with a tailwind, skidded down the runway and was traveling over 70 knots (145 km/h, 90 mph) as it tore off the tarmac and plunged into the 30 metre (100 ft) deep ravine. Tire marks extend 1,600 ft (490 m) indicating emergency braking action.

Réal Levasseur, the TSB's lead investigator for the accident, said the plane landed too far down the runway to have been able to stop properly on such wet pavement. Investigators have found no evidence of engine trouble, brake failure, or problems with the spoilers or thrust reversers. Why evacuation chutes failed to deploy from two exits remains under study. Some fleeing passengers were forced to jump some two metres (six feet) to the ground.

[edit] Irregularities

The final report of the TSB investigation can be found at the TSB website (PDF document). The TSB update states - During the flare, the aircraft entered a heavy shower area, and the crew's forward visibility was significantly reduced as they entered the downpour.- This speaks for the possibility that the plane was hit in heavy weather by a wet downburst, causing the Airbus to land long. Based on the Air France A340-313 Quick Reference Handbook (QRH), page 34G, "Landing Distance Without Autobrake", the minimum distance of 1155 m (3,788 ft) would be used in dry conditions to bring the aircraft to a complete stop. In wet conditions the braking distance increases with a 5-knot tailwind, reversers operative, and a 6.3 mm (1/4 inch) of downpour on the runway to 2016 m (6,614 ft ). This runway length was obviously not available at touch down of AF 358.

Other possible irregularities mentioned in a government report on the accident [24]:

  • Passenger oxygen tanks supposedly exploded in the heat of the fire. (Emergency passenger oxygen is provided via a chemical oxygen generator but the aircraft would have been carrying therapeutic oxygen for passengers requiring a constant supply throughout the flight and first aid situations.)
  • The copy of the "E.R.S. Aircraft Crash Chart" at Pearson International Airport did not include blueprints for the Airbus A340 model of planes at the time of the crash. The blueprints would have contained vital information with regards to search and rescue efforts, and provide the location of fuel and pressurised gas tanks so that rescue crews can avoid them.


[edit] Conclusions

The TSB concluded in their final report that the pilots had missed cues that would have prompted them to review their decision to land.[25] In their report [26], the TSB cited that

  • Air France had no procedures related to distance required from thunderstorms during approaches and landings
  • After the autopilot had been disengaged, the pilot flying increased the thrust in reaction to a decrease in airspeed and a perception that the aircraft was sinking. The power increase contributed to an increase in aircraft energy and the aircraft deviated above the flight path.
  • At 300 feet above ground level, the wind changed from a headwind to a tailwind
  • While approaching the threshold, the aircraft entered an intense downpour and the forward visibility became severely reduced.
  • When the aircraft was near the threshold, the crew members committed to the landing and believed their go-around option no longer existed.
  • The pilot not flying did not make the standard callouts concerning the spoilers and thrust reversers during the landing roll. This contributed to the delay in the pilot flying selecting the thrust reversers.
  • There were no landing distances indicated on the operational flight plan for a contaminated runway condition at the Toronto / Lester B. Pearson International Airport.
  • The crew did not calculate the landing distance required for runway 24L despite aviation routine weather reports (METARs) calling for thunderstorms. The crew were not aware of the margin of error.
  • The topography at the end of the runway beyond the area and the end of Runway 24L contributed to aircraft damage and injuries to crew and passengers.

The TSB advised changes to bring Canadian runway standards in line with those used abroad, either by extending them to have a 300 m runway safety area (or Runway End Safety Area) or, where that is impossible, providing an equivalently effective backup method of stopping aircraft.[27][28] Other recommendations that the TSB made includes having the Department of Transport establishing clear standards limiting approaches and landings in convective weather for all operators at Canadian airports, and mandate training for all pilots involved in Canadian air operations to better enable them to make landing decisions in bad weather.[29]

[edit] Compensation

Within one week of the crash, cash payments ranging from C$1,000 to C$3,700 (all figures in this article in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated) were given to passengers for interim emergency use. These funds were given to passengers through an emergency centre set up in the Novotel Hotel in Mississauga, near the airport. These payments were independent of the claims process, which has been started for passengers who have not retained counsel. It is expected that the insurers of Air France will pay for all damages as well as extra compensation for having passengers go through the ordeal; however, only amounts of €6,000-€9,000 have been offered, prompting passengers to turn to the lawsuit to seek legal action. The insurance is handled by the Societé de Gestion & D'Expertises D'Assurances in France. All passengers have also been offered a free return ticket to any Air France destination in the world in the same fare class they were originally booked in on AF358.

[edit] Passenger class action lawsuit against Air France, GTAA, and Nav Canada

Within a few days after the accident, a class action suit was filed on behalf of all passengers on board by representative plaintiff Suzanne Deak to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The attorneys representing Deak and the passengers are Gary R. Will and Paul Miller from Will Barristers in Toronto. The plaintiffs are seeking payments for general and aggravated damages in the amount of $75 million, and payments for special damages and pecuniary damages in the amount of $250 million.

A second class action lawsuit was also filed by plaintiffs Sahar Alqudsi and Younis Qawasmi (her husband) for $150 million a few days later. However, both suits have since merged as only one lawsuit is allowed to proceed to court.

Air France stated that it will not lose any money from the lawsuits as it is covered by its insurers. Also, Air France did not provide further contacts and assistance to those who retained counsel of the lawsuit until an agreement has been made between both sides' lawyers.

[edit] Air France lawsuit against GTAA, Nav Canada and the Federal Government

In June 2008, almost 3 years after the accident, Air France filed a lawsuit against the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, NAV Canada, and the Canadian Federal Government for $180 million[30]. In the statement of claim filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Air France alleged that the "GTAA failed to provide a safe environment for the conduct of civil air operations." The statement also claims that "The overrun and the consequent injuries to persons and damage to property were caused solely by the negligence of the defendants". Air France says Transport Canada was "negligent" by not implementing the recommendations of a coroner's inquest into the 1978 crash that urged the creation of a 300-metre safety area to give aircraft more room to stop after landing.

[edit] Aftermath

As with many post-aircraft-crash flight numbers [31], Air France Flight 358 no longer exists. The flight number has been changed to Air France Flight 352, which uses either an Airbus A340-300 (the same type of aircraft involved in the accident) or a Boeing 747-400, depending on the time of year.

An inquiry by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada found runway safety zones at the end of runways at Canadian airports are below international standards and need to improve. As well the TSB suggest precautions needed to be taken (by airlines and airports) when landing in bad weather. [32][28]

[edit] Modern Media

This crash appeared in modern media in an episode of Mayday (Air Crash Investigation, Air Emergency), "Miracle Landing," portrays the Flight 358 disaster.[33]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "'We thought the plane would blow up'," The Sydney Morning Herald
  2. ^ "Air France Crash in Canada; Discovery to Perform Repairs; National Identification Cards," CNN
  3. ^ "Passengers, Crew Survive Fiery Plane Crash," Fox News
  4. ^ a b "Pearson disaster was avoidable," Toronto Star
  5. ^ a b "'A miracle' no deaths as Air France flight skids off runway, burns in Toronto," CBC
  6. ^ "Canada crash had textbook evacuation," KREM
  7. ^ "Survivors' stories," CBC
  8. ^ a b "Air France Flight 358 - FAQs," CTV
  9. ^ "Miracle Escape," Mayday
  10. ^ CBC News "No fatalities in Toronto airplane fire"
  11. ^ "Air france 358 crash - aug 2," Airliners.net
  12. ^ "Air France passenger becomes photojournalist," Toronto Star
  13. ^ "Airliners.net Member In The Paper," Airliners.net
  14. ^ a b "Disaster photos: Newsworthy or irresponsible?," USA Today
  15. ^ "Passengers Flee Blaze Jet," The Sun
  16. ^ Air France Flight 358 report. Transportation Safety Board of Canada. 2.
  17. ^ "All survive Air France jet crash and fire," CNN
  18. ^ "The Osler Connection, Winter 2006," The Osler Foundation
  19. ^ a b "WOHC (William osler Health centre)" ("2005-08-06"). ["http://www.aviation.ca/content/view/1181/117/" "'Emergency response procedures worked according to plan after Air France plane crash"]. "Aviation.ca". Retrieved on 2008-03-30.
  20. ^ "Survival By More Than 300 Air France Passengers in Toronto Called Miraculous," Red Orbit
  21. ^ "Passengers, crew survive fiery crash in Toronto," CTV
  22. ^ "The Credit Valley Hospital," Credit Valley Hospital
  23. ^ a b c Regional Council Minutes - August 11, 2005," Region of Peel
  24. ^ Tom Blackwell, National Post, February 14, 2006
  25. ^ Air France Pilots Faulted by Board in Toronto Crash
  26. ^ Transit Safety Board Report
  27. ^ TSB advises runway changes in light of Air France crash. CBC News 2007-12-12 Retrieved 2007-12-13
  28. ^ a b NTSB Final report 2007-12-12 Retrieved 2007-12-13
  29. ^ TSB Report
  30. ^ Air France sues over crash Toronto Star 2008-06-04 Retrieved 2008-06-08
  31. ^ Grossman, David. "Check your travel superstitions, or carry them on?," USA Today
  32. ^ TSB advises runway changes in light of Air France crash. CBC News 2007-12-12 Retrieved 2007-12-13
  33. ^ "Air Emergency: Miracle Escape," National Geographic Channel

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 43°39′23.2″N, 79°37′29.0″W

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