AIRBUS A340 Jumbo Jet in Flames on runway in Toronto

[SF Bay Area Dem]

CNN saying it is a Lufthansa 737 which is wrong (as usual for CNN)... the pictures are dramatic...

[pitohui]

1. anyone on this jet?

was it evacuated OK?

[SF Bay Area Dem]

6. I don't see passengers or people around the plane...

... I hope they made it out ok...

[GreenPartyVoter]

33. It doesn't sound good there

[bigwillq]

7. They say 200 on board (nt)

[SF Bay Area Dem]

2. Lufthansa does not fly 737's to North America

I know I am being picky here but CNN is always wrong...

[Rainscents]

108. You're right... They only purchase 747 from Boeing for long haul.

I am a Boeing empolyee.

[Kellanved]

135. actually they do

But not to Toronto. AFAIK there is just the Newark <-> Munich Businessjet.

[SlipperySlope]

3. Self-Deleted

[SidDithers]

4. Raining cats & dogs at Toronto airport right now...

should help with any firefighting.

Sid

[Gman]

8. Won't help this fire

if you could see the pictures.

[Fleshdancer]

5. I hope no one was hurt

I haven't seen the pictures yet, but it sounds creepy

[flyarm]

9. PLANES FUSELAGE IS IN FLAMES..

the body of the fuselage..hopefully they evacuated!..the flames are large in the fuselage area..

off the runway!

[flyarm]

foaming plane right now from overhead! n/t

[flyarm]

17. looks to me like an evacuation slide has been deployed!

i am retired flight attend american airlines so trying to decifer whats going on

[flyarm]

24. thats no 737..

now they are saying air france!

[babylonsister]

28. CNN now thinks it's an AIRBUS. nt

[SF Bay Area Dem]

14. There are no ambulances around the plane... that is bad...

... for rescue efforts... meaning not many obvious walking wounded etc...

[babylonsister]

29. I think it's too hot/smoky/too many flames for them to get there.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

10. That plane is fully involved with fire.... OMG

... man that is bad...

[jim3775]

11. self delete

[SidDithers]

12. Trying to take off in severe thunderstorms...

slid off the runway.

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

There are reports that the airplane was trying to take off or land in a downpour when it skidded off a runway shortly before 4 p.m.


Sid

[jackstraw45]

13. If a large fire, must have been on take-off full of jet fuel

Those poor passengers & crew.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

16. I think they said it was landing?

That is allot of fire though...

[jackstraw45]

19. cube-rat here...

Just guessing based on the flames but who knows?

Either way it sounds really bad - an A340 is a large plane I believe.

[jim3775]

15. I'm watching CTV and they have no word on passengers. n/t

[jim3775]

21. CBC, CTV and Global Toronto say no confirmed make on the plane. n/t

[dogday]

18. It missed the runway

I hope they were able to recover the passengers...

[SF Bay Area Dem]

22. Man this is bad... finnally CNN saying it is a Airbus not a 737...

It had to have been taking off... if it was landing it would not be so far off of the runway the way it is...

[SF Bay Area Dem]

25. Now they are saying it is an Air France Airbus?

Cannot tell the markings...

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

49. AP: Police say it is an Air France plane. n/t

[nytemare]

20. MSNBC is saying that it was probably landing.

CNN was still saying 737.

[jim3775]

23. CBC confirmes Air France n/t

[Rosco T.]

26. CBC says 200 people aboard, overshot runway - showing it in a ravine..n/m

[jim3775]

27. CBC: The plane was landing. n/t

[SF Bay Area Dem]

30. It slid awfully far off of the runway if it was landinjg...

...

[SF Bay Area Dem]

32. There are many airport firetrucks... and they cannot seem to knock down...

... the fire... I would think it was taking off...

[flyarm]

31. they arw foaming the plane but flames not subsiding..engines

flaming out...at first cockpit did not lok involved but it looks like engulfed now

[SF Bay Area Dem]

34. Agreed... they are using all of the foam to no avail...

...it takes time to reload those huge trucks... this is bad...

[fooj]

35. Hi Fly...

do we know if they were able to get out?

[Rosco T.]

39. CBC strangely quiet on survivors... no word either way... n/m

[flyarm]

42. i thought i saw a evacuation slide..but when the black

smoke came up can't see it now..the black plumes came after they began foaming plane

[flyarm]

38. miles obrien is full of shit

all flights have to have fuel enough to divert to other airports!

he is full of shit

[fooj]

41. I'm with you, Fly.

:scared: Shit-this looks bad!

[flyarm]

50. i have flown paris to toronto before ..and diverted to

st johns newfoundland..because of weather..so miles o'brien is full of shit

[fooj]

53. napi21 just started a thread and she says O'Brien is full of shit, too!

Peace.

[napi21]

78. YES I DID! This idiot first said this was a Lufhantza 737 Airbus!

Now, It's either an Airbus or a 737, but it sure isn't both!

These guys have been flying AND reporting long enough to know that!!!!

[flyarm]

134. all commerical aircraft have to have enough fuel to circle and divert..

going into yyz greenland and st johns canada are two diversions..used alot for european flts....montreal is another..and if nessesary detroit..or ny!

[jim3775]

43. CBC has a clearer shot now. There was a big blast of foam but...

afterwards the flames flared up again.

Edit: oops didn't mean to reply to this post.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

46. They all talk through their asses... embarrassing when they are so...

... obviously wrong...

[jim3775]

36. CBC: On fire for about an hour. The call came in at 4:00. n/t

[Rosco T.]

37. CBC story online....

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

Passenger jet on fire at Toronto airport
Last Updated Tue, 02 Aug 2005 16:41:07 EDT
CBC News

Flames and black smoke were pouring out of a passenger airplane at Toronto's Pearson International Airport Tuesday afternoon, two hours after operations at the airport were grounded because of severe thunderstorms in the area.

There is no word on how many passengers were on board the Air France A340 or what their condition is. The plane has a capacity of between 250 and 305 passengers, with a crew of 12 to 15 people.

The Air France jet burst into flames after skidding off a runway at Toronto's Pearson Airport Tuesday.

There are reports that the airplane was trying to take off or land in a downpour when it skidded off a runway at about 3:50 p.m.

It crashed through barriers and ended up in a small ravine at the far west end of the airport, the fuselage tipped down and the aircraft's tail in the air.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

40. Associated Press confirms it was a Air France A340-300

... a very large jet...

[Bluebear]

44. (As if Lufthansa would have a 737 in N. America)

Where is their aviation "expert" Miles? What horrible reporting.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

52. Agreed... most people know that 737's from Europe do not fly direct...

... to North America...

I am a FlightSim buff so I am familiar with what these planes look like...

[arcos]

57. It is not Lufthansa according to the CP24 stream posted somewhere here...

It's Air France

[Bluebear]

61. Yeah we know arcos, just commenting on CNN's stupid reporting (as usual)

[arcos]

64. oh...

I don't have a TV near so I have no idea what they're saying...

As I read above though, Miles O'Brien is always full of shit :P

[yodermon]

45. streaming coverage here

http://www.pulse24.com/Plugins/CP24Live/popup_player.asp?speed=56

[flyarm]

54. its insulting that that stupid ass obrien is trying to blame this on wind

sheer..or the crew..this is total bullshit!

[Bluebear]

55. It could be shear, no? Heavy thunderstorms in the area

[Guaranteed]

47. Oh fuck.

Those poor people.

[flyarm]

we do not know if an evacuation has occured..

i thought i saw a slide..but can not tell at this point..this is one side of the plane you are seeing...

[wakeme2008]

48. pic from MSNBC

[Bluebear]

51. PHOTO of intact Air France A340 - This is a huge a/c, doesn't look good

[bigwillq]

58. I see a Red X

:(

[Bluebear]

59. better, bud?

This does not look good for the passengers. :(

[bigwillq]

72. I see it now.

Thanks. No it doesn't look good at all.

[arcos]

56. NOT Lufthansa, it's Air France... nt

[SF Bay Area Dem]

60. Smoke becoming lighter... fire starting to burn out... (???)

They might be getting a handle on it...

[Career Prole]

62. Brit Hume will no doubt advise selling Airbus and buying Boeing

on the air if his past avarice is any indicator.

[Bluebear]

63. And it was Air FRANCE "hahahahaha!"

:eyes: Brace yourself.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

65. Not sure what the laughter was for at first...

... but understand now the conservatives and fundies will consider this some kind of weird "act of God" or something... (not all but the most extreme nutcases on the Republican side)...

[SF Bay Area Dem]

70. Faux Niel Cavuto: How will this effect the markets and would this not...

... have happened if the French would have supported President *ush?

[Bluebear]

71. The yahoo trolls are all over it.

Sick psyches.

This may well be a microburst that slammed her down. It's a horror show, those poor people.

[flyarm]

67. no time for ..ha ha's!..please..n/t

[Bluebear]

69. Please see context.

[Career Prole]

130. Whammy and double-whammy.

P.S. I'm of French descent and I understood the hahahaha.
The others must not have noticed the quotation marks in your subject line or perhaps didn't hear Gibson's crack about "Paris should have gotten the Olympics"...
:shrug:

[Swamp Rat]

121. Exactly!

[nytemare]

66. MSNBC was talking about reports of survivors

They said one supposedly walked out of the gully when the rescue crews were arriving. I can't make heads or tails of the wreckage, now. Poor people!

[Bluebear]

73. That would be a miracle, may it be so!

[SF Bay Area Dem]

74. I pray to God that people survived...

... it appears from the pictures that there could have been survivors from the original skid... it is the smoke, fire and panic that makes these things so tragic...

[Bluebear]

77. I hope it was a skid after they landed

That they had lost speed. Would portend better things than just a microburst bringing it down.

[flyarm]

79. yes please do pray for all aboard...

please pray for survivors!

[shraby]

68. They just said at least one person

was seen walking out of the ravine, so maybe there are more survivors.

[flyarm]

75. we do not know if an evac has occured..

and many people walk around stunned if there was..and it being in a revine and trees we do not know at this point..and i wish that dang obrien would shut the fuck up about wind sheer..i think its the only thing th9s sob knows about..what a dumb fuck..

[Fuzz]

76. Parents flying today, just saw a burning jet when I flipped on CNN

Heart skipped a beat.

[flyarm]

81. the fireball they just replayed on cnn was the cockpit area..

[SF Bay Area Dem]

80. WTF??? Did y'all see the fireball explosion torwards the front of the...

...plane just now??? It just happened! Could this be something else more ominous than a simple accident? I hope not.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

82. What was that explosion about? An hour after the initial incident?

... that is wierd... could it have been Oxygen tanks or something? The fuel tanks are not that far forward...

[flyarm]

83. understand ..there are many flamables on those planes..

that can explode..like oxygen and the ovens ..oxygen tanks are in front of plane and back of plane

[SF Bay Area Dem]

85. Yes it could be oxygen tanks...

... just was wierd is all...

[Bluebear]

87. I don't believe there are O2 tanks on the A340

The emergency oxygen supply would be individual canisteres, chemically generated.

[flyarm]

96. there are o2 bottles on every aircraft coming into the usa..its the law!

[Bluebear]

100. Only supplemental first aid O2. They would not make a flash like that

[smbolisnch]

111. It is possible nt

[flyarm]

86. the plane is under pressurization...

that can cause and explosion!

[SF Bay Area Dem]

88. But an hour after the initial crash?

The cabin would have depressurized correct?

[Bluebear]

89. Oh yeah there was no pressure left an hour later

[flyarm]

97. plane was broken..so pressurization would not have been

sterile..so no now we know that could not be it..

[Bluebear]

84. The coincidence of the thunderstorm would say no...

If your're thinking terrorism, I would guess not but who knows eh?

[flyarm]

91. plane is still flaming out

[HEyHEY]

90. Broadcast news update - survivors confirmed

TORONTO -- There is no confirmation yet of any deaths in the crash of an Air France jet at Toronto's Pearson Airport.
The Airbus A-340 skidded off the end of a runway and burst into flames in a heavily-wooded area.
Police say the pilot and an unknown number of passengers have been taken to hospital.
Sergeant Glyn Griffiths told the Globe and Mail that some passengers were picked up on Highway 4-0-1 and that a number of other passengers were ``wandering around the area.''
Griffiths said he didn't have any information on casualties.
An Air France ticket agent identified the plane as flight 358 on a Paris-to-Montreal flight.
Griffiths also said jet was coming in for a landing when it ran into trouble during a period of heavy rain and thunderstorms.
(CP,BN,CP24-s,CTV-s)
---

[flyarm]

92. like i said before ..survivors are usually in shock...

they can walk around in utter shock...so can crew..

[gkhouston]

94. hell, they may find 'em wandering around in the trees

hours from now. I'm just glad they're finding 'em.

[flyarm]

95. msnbc said many survivors!!

thank god...several..bus loads of passengers alive!!

[faithnotgreed]

101. thank you

so thankful for survivors

[nytemare]

93. MSNBC was talking about busloads of passengers being taken to triage

I hope that is true!

[flyarm]

98. missisagua hospital is very close to tor airport!

[flyarm]

msnbc getting report 291 pasengers and all survived!!

[nytemare]

104. Hope they can confirm that.

It would seem a bit doubtful, but we can hope!

[gkhouston]

105. there's some mighty welcome news

:bounce:

I'm sure some of them are badly hurt, but still...

[ronnykmarshall]

110. Please god let that be true!

[HEyHEY]

99. CTV - "I think we got everyone off the plane" - Stewardess

according to a witness.

[nytemare]

102. They mentioned that on MSNBC as well

We can only hope!

[GreenPartyVoter]

115. *crossing fingers*

[flyarm]

106. we must wait to know reaL FACTS..REMEMBER THAT..PLEASE

BUT I WILL TELL YOU..they are pros on those planes..and if there was apossiblity of getting everyone off..they got them off!!

bless them...

[HEyHEY]

113. I'm sitting in front of a newswire

Fear not I'm not going to report speculation.

[Bluebear]

116. Yeah, watch that, will you?

:)

[HEyHEY]

119. Oddly BN is streaming CBC newsworld

Considering Toronto is BN's hub, I can't believe they don't have their own guy on.

[Bluebear]

120. We're finally getting Canadian feed here instead of Miles O'Brien

and Wolf Blitzer, who can barely contain himself.

[Bluebear]

103. Report: Pilot survived, CTV interviewing a flight attendant

Let us hope.

[nytemare]

107. You don't have a link for that, do you?

n/t

[nytemare]

112. I found a link, never mind, thanks!

[flyarm]

117. Passenger jet on fire at Toronto airport

Passenger jet on fire at Toronto airport
CTV.ca News Staff

A passenger jet burst into flames after skidding off the runway while attempting to land at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

There is no word on any casualties and the number of passengers on board was not immediately available.

But police have confirmed that a pilot and a number of passengers were taken to hospital.

Sgt. Glyn Griffiths told the Globe and Mail that some injured passengers were seen walking around the crash site.

"A pilot has gone to hospital and they were picked up on the 401 and a number of other passengers were wandering around the area so we're trying to head them off,'' said Griffiths.

Griffiths indicated the aircraft was an Air France jet that was trying to land when it ran into trouble.

"An Air France plane landing on runway 2-4 left went off the end of the runway the area of Convert Drive and the 401 area in Mississauga," said Griffiths.

"I haven't got any information on casualties at all."

Air France has not released a statement, but a ticket agent with the airline told Reuters that the burning plane is an A340 airbus that was travelling from Paris to Toronto.

Live television pictures showed flames and smoke billowing from the aircraft in a wooded area just metres from Highway 401 -- Canada's busiest highway -- near the airport. A section of the plane's wing could be seen jutting from the trees.

CTV Toronto's Jim Junkin reports that 200 people are thought to have been on board.

Severe storms were hitting the area at the time of the accident, grounding most operations at the airport.

Eyewitnesses reported seeing lightning hit the plane before it burst into flames.

The Greater Toronto Airport Authority is expected to hold a press conference tonight at 6 p.m. ET.

[SF Bay Area Dem]

109. Check out this link to a sattelite photo of the crash site...

... that plane slid or rolled a very long way off of the runway...

[GreenPartyVoter]

114. Well they had a lot of weight and inertia.. if the engines and brakes

really did get zapped by lightning there wouldn't have been much reason for it to even stop where it did except for that gulley.

[KamaAina]

118. Lightning detection system was out because of... lightning

You just can't make this stuff up...

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

At mid-afternoon Tuesday, a spokesperson with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said lightning was causing technical problems with the airport's lightning-detection system.

Tragic, not funny. :(

[flyarm]

122. streaming from canadian tv

http://www.pulse24.com/Plugins/CP24Live/popup_player.asp?speed=56

[Bluebear]

123. CTV interviewing a passenger survivor now

So yes, people did make it through this! :)

[ClusterFreak]

124. This is amazing....crash survivors on being interviewed live....

....CTV and CBC Newsworld are interviewing crash survivors...CNN picking it up....

[Rainscents]

125. CNN is shit... They're always wrong! I'm glad, I stop watching all MSM.

For trolls who think this accident was good... leave it up to GOD, he will punish them! I am very happy that, everyone survived!!!

[HEyHEY]

127. All the good reports are from CBC and CTV

Two Mainstream outlets...maybe CNN just sucks. Or at least all US media anyway.

[HEyHEY]

126. CBC unconfirmed reports - no deaths

[flyarm]

128. 14 minor injuries is what officials are saying...thank god !!

[HEyHEY]

129. No deaths! - BN confirms

NDEX: Advisories

TORONTO -- An official of the Greater Toronto Airport Authority says it appears everyone survived the crash of an Air France jet at Pearson Airport today.
Steve Shaw says it there are 14 minor injuries.
(BN)
---
bp

[Career Prole]

131. CNN "breaking news" e-mail...

"All passengers survive after an Air France jet overruns a Toronto, Canada, runway and bursts into flames, officials said."

:woohoo:

[Bluebear]

132. Merci, Air France flight attendants!

Congratulations on a successful evacuation, heros and heroines!

[flyarm]

133. increible flt crew, and incredible evac!!..bless them all!!