No fatalities in Toronto airplane fire

[XemaSab]

All 309 people aboard a jet that overshot a runway and burst into flames at Pearson International Airport Tuesday survived the ordeal, according to fire officials on the scene.

There were 14 minor injuries, however.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/08/02/pearson-plane050802.html

[WhoWantsToBeOccupied]

1. Wow. That's wonderful news!

[TahitiNut]

2. That's just freaking amazing! Infreakingcredible!

:wow: THOSE are the flight attendants I want to have on my travel!

[progmom]

3. that's amazing

truly miraculous.

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. *deep exhale*

Amen

[DemExpat]

5. So happy to hear this.

:bounce:

DemEx

[Endangered Specie]

6. Well, you know what they say...

A good landing is one where everyone walks away
A great one is when they can use the plane again.


Looks like this one is 'just' a good landing.

[DS1]

7. Government Subsidized Healthcare Strikes Again!

:P

In all seriousness, I wonder how well any airport would be equipped to handle this if it was privatized.

Shit, look at British Rail. All fukkered up now.

[Greeby]

10. Hey

Umm, BR did most of the fukkering up over it's history

[alarcojon]

8. Great News!

Our prayers were answered!

[SlavesandBulldozers]

9. well so much for Faux and CNN's next graphic and story

they were gonna push for the next two months titled "Fiery Massacre on the Runway". guess its back to Aruba we go. ..

[Greeby]

12. ..................

Cue comments from John Gibson and Brit Hume classified under "Just Plain Evil."

[SlavesandBulldozers]

13. precisely

followed by a special segment "Brit's Disaster Stock Picks"

[bigwillq]

11. That's just great news.

May those injured get well soon.

[Bumblebee]

14. What an utter relief! CNN and MSNBC pronounced them all dead long ago

Hope they are not too disappointed!

[qanda]

15. That is just wonderful

I'm sure they are shaken up, but it is just great that they actually survived.

[whistle]

16. Holy crap, if that plane had continued up onto the 401...

...it could have taken the lives of many commuters:

<snip>

The plane skidded off Runway 24 Left, an east-west runway laid out parallel to one of Toronto's busiest roads, Highway 401. It ended up in the Etobicoke Creek ravine, a small valley at the far west end of the airport, the aircraft's fuselage tipped down and its tail in the air.

<end snip>

[Amonester]

17. My tax dollars at work!! :-)

Congratulations to all rescue personel for their great expertise!

:applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause: :applause:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

[Puzzler]

18. I'm no expert but...

... it looks like a text-book perfect case of how to evacuate a large crashed aircraft quickly and safely. Kudos to the crew and emergency personnel.


-P

[KeepItReal]

21. And kudos to those Exit Row passengers!!

:-)

[XemaSab]

22. Many are called,

but few are chosen.

:-)

[Ilsa]

25. The Canadian Air services is getting a big pat on the back as

well for being so very well prepared for handling the emergency. Passengers said they were on the spot.

[samsingh]

19. good news.

[donheld]

20. Thanks to some very dedicated Airline/Airport workers

and emergency personnel :yourock:

[rfkrfk]

32. the pilot deserves a medal

for bravery.

Other pilots chickened out, and either waited, or landed somewhere else.

[0007]

23. I bet this is an experience that these folks will never forget!

Had a similar experience coming into the Salt Lake City Air Port in the early 50's before jet travel was popular.

[rfkrfk]

36. something similiar happened in Little Rock, not that long ago.

the co-pilot blamed air-traffic-control, he said something like...
'we weren't warned enough times',
By the time the truth came out, the reputation of the atc guy was ruined.

real reason for crash, the pilot had a meeting
planned with his mistress, and did not want to divert.

several dead, including Captain Happy Pants.

the 'Toronto' pilot should be shot, for endangering others.

[rocktivity]

24. Good news, and certainly a story with a happy ending

but it HAS ended. Let's get back to news that's important, please.

:headbang:
rocknation

[wtmusic]

26. Sheesh

I didn't even want to look at the news.

This is terrific. :party:

[Twillig]

27. Well done Flight Attendants.

Good job in training them, Air France.

[Lisa]

28. first the "Transat Glider" back in 2001 ...

http://www2.ece.utah.edu/~ce4710/session4/avweb4.html

"The pilots managed to do something no one else has ever accomplished (or would likely want to) ... glide an A330 for more than 18 minutes before landing deadstick at Lajes air base in the Azores."



... and now this!

We've been incredibly lucky. I'm not going to whine about Air Canada cancellations, or the Vancouver trucking strike, etc., any more this summer.


Here's a link to a map, showing the locations of the airport and Highway 401. It's big, so I won't imbed the pic.

Type in www., then cs.toronto.edu/~welling/personal/One_Airport.JPG


Page with webcam links to that part of the highway:
http://www.jameskoole.ca/webcams/mtotoronto/

401 at rush hour (some sections have more than 12 lanes!)

[Billy Burnett]

31. Ever heard of "The Gimli Glider", an Air Canada 767 that ran out of fuel?

The Gimli Glider

If a Boeing 767 runs out of fuel at 41,000 feet what do you have? Answer: A 132 ton glider with a sink rate of over 2000 feet-per-minute and marginally enough hydraulic pressure to control the ailerons, elevator, and rudder. Put veteran pilots Bob Pearson and cool-as-a-cucumber Maurice Quintal in the cockpit and you've got the unbelievable but true story of Air Canada Flight 143, known ever since as the Gimli Glider.

Read on. A simply amazing story.

[Lisa]

34. yes -- I didn't include it because it happened more than a decade ago ...

And if I mentioned it, I'd have to put in a word for the Mississauga Miracle as well!


http://www.mississauga.ca/portal/cityhall/trainderailment

[u4ic]

38. I'll never forget the day

we were evacuated...:scared:

I didn't think we'd have a home to come back to.

[Lisa]

40. I remember the radio stations as far away as Burlington and Hamilton ...

... were asking people to offer places for the evacuees to stay. We'd just been learning in school about how chlorine gas was used to kill troops during WWI. If the chlorine hadn't been blown high into the air by the exploding fuel tanker (and then out over Lake Ontario), there could have been a lot of fatalities.

[u4ic]

42. Everyone pulled together

it was an amazing show of generousity by individuals as well as businesses. We had relatives in Niagara Falls who took us in.

If the wind had been going a different direction (and there was another tanker that they were very concerned about - I think it was anhydrous ammonia (?) can't remember offhand exactly - but luckily it didn't explode) it would have been horrendous.

All those years ago, and I still get visibly upset over it.

[Pithlet]

37. Wow.

That is a pretty amazing story. Circumstances came together just right, or that would have been a huge tragedy.

I love how the van the mechanics were driving on the way to repair the plan ran out of gas.

[tabasco]

29. Yayyyy !!!!!!

So glad ....

Great job by the crew getting everybody out.

[Dem_Doin_Business]

30. Wonder if there were any opposition the the War on Iraq on the plane... NT

[Turn CO Blue]

33. Absolutely amazing and wonderful -- I work for an airline,

and you can't imagine how much these kinds of accidents impact us. Of course, it can't compare to the effect on the passengers and their families, of course.

[burrowowl]

35. Congrats to pilots, crew

and the STEWARDESSES and STEWARDS!

:yourock: :applause: :woohoo: :toast: :bounce:

[u4ic]

39. Now these are REAL heroes!

The plane crew, the emergency workers...and yes, the passengers!

:bounce: :toast: :bounce:

[mahatmakanejeeves]

41. Tomorrow's Most-Played Lottery Numbers

309 - total number of people on plane, 297 passengers and 12 crew.

358 - flight number

340 - Airbus A340

401 - highway next to airport.