| August 2nd, 2005 05:01 PM |
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| telecaster |
Air France jumbo jet crashes on landing
Hope it isn't as bad as it looks on TV
Thoughts go out for all the passengers |
| August 2nd, 2005 05:05 PM |
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| Joey |
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/02/toronto.crash.ap/index.html
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| August 2nd, 2005 05:05 PM |
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| LadyJane |
Glued to Toronto TV at the moment.
Looks bleak. 
Weather related is the initial report. |
| August 2nd, 2005 05:41 PM |
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| kath |
TORONTO Aug 2, 2005 — 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.
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| August 2nd, 2005 06:04 PM |
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| pdog |
I awoke from a bad dream this morning. Just a few days before a vacation back to the Jersey shore. The dream was horrible, the plane we were on was going down like a ton of bricks, everyone was screaming. My last memory of the dream was me wishing I was alone and not with my wife and son, then I woke up covered in sweat.
Now hearing this news, I'm actually a little frightened to fly this week.
All my selfish shit aside, this is horrible news. My thought and prayers go out to all those affected by this tragedy. |
| August 2nd, 2005 06:28 PM |
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| Gazza |
No-one killed, thankfully, according to Air France |
| August 2nd, 2005 06:58 PM |
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| glencar |
That's good to hear! Those Airbuses suck! |
| August 2nd, 2005 07:42 PM |
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| Soldatti |
only 15 minor injuries, a miracle. |
| August 3rd, 2005 12:25 AM |
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| Monkey Woman |
Yeah, a real miracle! 309 on board and not one dead.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/americas/08/02/toronto.crash/index.html
They are talking about only 24 comparatively minor injuries now. One reason must be that the plane had already touched ground, so the passengers were able to exit the plane via exit chutes in a hurry to safety, litterally fleeing before the fire. Must have been chaos, but the crew managed to get everybody out in time. And they say the response by the emergency team on site was very quick in getting to the plane and putting the flames off.
N.B. I doubt there's reason to fear about the type of plane. It was the first time an Airbus A340 had crashed in its 13 years of commercial service. The cause is not yet determined but they are talking about wind shear or lightning. Maybe the flight should have been directed to another airport seeing that there was a strong thunderstorm. Enquiries will learn us more.
Anyway, this felt doubly close to me because it happenend now, when our thoughts are turned to Toronto! The first thing that went through my head when I heard about this on the news was "What if one of our Stoneswatching friends who went to the town for the rehearsals had been in the plane? What if some of Stones' own people had been aboard? Musicians, technical crew, friends and family?" Scary thoughts. I've been in a few planes in bad weather in my life, and it's really a feeling like a rollercoaster, you feel helpless like a pea in a shaking box -- but that's real life, so there's no garanteed safe stop at the end. |
| August 3rd, 2005 02:43 AM |
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| egon |
i just went to bed last night when the news broke,
so nothing was known yet.
It is good to wake up with news that everyone is ok! |
