Investigators probe cause of Toronto miracle crash

By Rachelle Younglai

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian aircraft investigators said on
Wednesday they are looking at weather as one possible cause of
a “miracle” Toronto plane crash in which all 309 passengers and
crew walked away from the fiery remains of an Airbus A340.

The Air France plane overshot the runway and burst into
flames as it landed in an unusually severe storm at Toronto’s
Pearson International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

Some 42 people were taken to the hospital with minor
injuries, most of them sustained as they fled the burning plane
down emergency chutes. There were no deaths.

“It’s incredible, it’s a miracle,” Canada’s Transport
Minister Jean Lapierre said.

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said the weather was
one of a number of “potential aspects” under investigation and
a police spokesman said there was no indication that the crash
was anything other than an accident.

Officials said there were still hot spots in the wreckage
of the plane, more than 12 hours after the crash.

They praised the cool of the Air France crew, whose first
officer made a final check round the plane before abandoning
it.

“The evacuation probably took two minutes, maximum. They
did a great job,” said Mike Figliola, the airport authority’s
fire chief.

“Everybody got off. That’s the bottom line. A plane burns,
we can put it out.”

Air France said 101 French citizens and 104 Canadians were
aboard the plane, as well as people from Britain, Italy, India
and the United States.

“Air France is paying homage to the entire crew — to the
captain, to the first officer and to the cabin crew,” the
airline said in a statement. “Their calm and professionalism
have prevented a drama.”

Investigators declined to say how long their probe might
last, although they were confident the “black box” flight
recorders could be recovered.

“There is no time limit on this,” said Don Enns of the
Transportation Safety Board.

“The team will be addressing all aspects of it, including
the operation of the airplane, the operation of the airport and
right down to including the crash, fire and rescue, which seems
to have been very well handled.”

He added: “We are looking at all potential aspects,
including weather.”

Media speculation centered on whether the plane was hit by
lightning as it landed at the airport. A wet runway could have
caused aquaplaning, or a sudden tailwind could have blown the
plane toward the end of the runway before it landed.

The airport, Canada’s biggest and busiest, was slowly
getting back to normal on Wednesday. But one runway remained
closed as safety officials sought clues to the crash.

Air France said the plane, an Airbus A340, had 28,418
flight hours and joined its fleet on Sept 7, 1999. It was last
serviced on July 5, 2005, and it had no technical problems when
it left Paris on its flight to Toronto.

The A340-300 has a range of more than 7,000 miles, which
makes it popular with more than two dozen carriers for
long-haul flights.

(Additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Paul
Carrel in Paris)