Air France Flight 358 was a regularly scheduled international flight from

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Charles-de-Gaulle, ), also known as Roissy Airport or simply Paris CDG, is the principal airport serving the French capital, Paris ( and its metropolitan area), and the largest intern ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, France, to

Toronto Pearson International Airport Lester B. Pearson International Airport , commonly known as Toronto Pearson International Airport, is an international airport located in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the main airport serving Toronto, its metropolitan area, and the surr ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. On the afternoon of 2 August 2005, while landing at Pearson Airport, the Airbus A340-313E operating the route overran the runway and crashed into nearby

Etobicoke Creek Etobicoke Creek is a river in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada. It is a tributary of Lake Ontario and runs from Caledon to southern Etobicoke, part of the City of Toronto. The creek is within the jurisdiction of the Toronto and Regio ...

, approximately beyond the end of the runway. All 309 passengers and crew on board the Airbus survived, but twelve people sustained serious injuries. The accident highlighted the vital role played by highly trained flight attendants during an emergency. Due to inclement weather, 540 flights departing and arriving at Pearson were cancelled. Many small and mid-sized aircraft due to arrive were diverted to other Canadian airports in Ottawa,

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

, and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...

. Most of the larger aircraft were diverted to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Syracuse, New York, and

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

. Flights from Vancouver were turned back. The crash of Air France Flight 358 was the biggest crisis to hit Toronto Pearson since the airport's involvement in

Operation Yellow Ribbon Operation Yellow Ribbon (french: Opération ruban jaune) was commenced by Canada to handle the diversion of civilian airline flights in response to the September 11 attacks in 2001 on the United States. Canada's goal was to ensure that potential ...

Jean Lapierre Jean-Charles Lapierre (May 7, 1956 – March 29, 2016) was a Canadian politician and television and radio broadcaster. After retiring from the government in 2007, he served as a political analyst in a variety of venues. He was Paul Martin's Qu ...

, the Canadian

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

, referred to Flight 358 as a "miracle" because all of the passengers survived, despite the aircraft's complete destruction. Other press sources described the accident as the "Miracle in Toronto", the "Toronto Miracle", the " 'Miracle' Escape", and the "Miracle of Runway 24L". The accident was investigated by the

Transportation Safety Board of Canada The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB, french: Bureau de la sécurité des transports du Canada, BST), officially the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board (french: link=no, Bureau canadien d'enquête sur les ...

(TSB), with a final report issued on 13 December 2007. The unfavourable weather conditions, and the poor landing decisions made by the flight crew, were found to be major factors leading to the crash. The visibility was poor, the assigned runway was short (the airport's shortest), the plane touched down nearly halfway through the runway and the thrust reversers were not on full power until 17 seconds after touchdown.

Aircraft and crew

The aircraft operating Flight 358 was an Airbus A340-313E, with

Manufacturer's Serial Number A serial number is a unique identifier assigned incrementally or sequentially to an item, to ''uniquely'' identify it. Serial numbers need not be strictly numerical. They may contain letters and other typographical symbols, or may consist en ...

(MSN) 289 and

registration Register or registration may refer to: Arts entertainment, and media Music * Register (music), the relative "height" or range of a note, melody, part, instrument, etc. * ''Register'', a 2017 album by Travis Miller * Registration (organ), th ...

F-GLZQ; it was powered by four

CFM International CFM56 The CFM International CFM56 (U.S. military designation F108) series is a Franco-American family of high-bypass turbofan aircraft engines made by CFM International (CFMI), with a thrust range of . CFMI is a 50–50 joint-owned company of Saf ...

engines. The aircraft made its first flight on 3 August 1999, and was delivered to

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

on 7 September 1999. It had made 3,711 flights for a total of 28,426 flight hours. Its last maintenance check was carried out in France on 5 July 2005. There were twelve crew members on board the Airbus. The flight crew consisted of 57-year-old Captain Alain Rosaye, who had 15,411 total flight hours, and 43-year-old First Officer Frédéric Naud, who had 4,834 hours of flight time.

Passengers

Of the 297 passengers on board the aircraft, there were 168 adult males, 118 adult females, 8 children and 3 infants. There was a mix of different nationalities, including 104 Canadians, 101 Frenchmen, 19 Italians, 14 Americans, 8 Indians, 7 Britons, and 1 Egyptian. The passengers consisted of businesspersons, vacationers and students. Three of the passengers were seated in crew seats, one in the third occupant seat of the flight deck and two in the flight crew rest area.TSB Final Report, Section 1.15.1 General, pg 54.

Accident

At 16:02 EDT (20:02 UTC) on the 2 August 2005, Air France Flight 358 overshot the end of the runway after landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, and came to rest in a small

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion. Twelve major injuries resulted from the accident and there were no fatalities; the other occupants suffered minor or no injuries. The aircraft was destroyed in a post-crash fire. The flight landed during exceptionally poor weather—severe winds, heavy rain, and localized thunderstorms near the airport (see

Weather conditions Weather is the state of the atmosphere, describing for example the degree to which it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. On Earth, most weather phenomena occur in the lowest layer of the planet's atmosphere, the ...

below)—and touched down farther along the runway than usual. Some passengers reported 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." The plane had been cleared to land at 16:01 EDT on Runway 24L, which, at in length, is the shortest runway at Pearson Airport. After touchdown, the aircraft did not stop before the end of the runway, but continued on for another until it slid into the

ravine at a speed of , on the western edge of the airport near the interchange of Dixie Road and

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provinc ...

. After the aircraft had stopped, the crew saw fire outside and began evacuation. When the emergency exits were opened, one of the right middle exit slides (R3) deflated after being punctured by debris from the aircraft, while one of the left slides (L2) failed to deploy at all for unknown reasons. The two rear left exits remained closed due to the fire. A number of passengers were forced to jump from the aircraft to escape. The actions of the flight attendants, who ensured that all of the passengers were able to exit the plane quickly, contributed to the safe evacuation of everyone on board. The first officer was the last person to leave the plane, which was evacuated within the required 90-second time frame. Emergency response teams arrived on site within 52 seconds of the accident occurring. The TSB official report states that "the first response vehicle arrived at the scene within one minute of the crash alarm sounding".

Immediate aftermath

After the accident, some of the passengers, including those who were injured, scrambled up the ravine onto Highway 401, which runs almost parallel to the runway.

Peel Regional Police The Peel Regional Police (PRP) provide policing services for Peel Region (excluding Caledon) in Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest municipal police service in Ontario after the Toronto Police Service and third largest municipal force in C ...

located the first officer and several passengers along the highway, receiving assistance from motorists who had been passing the airport at the time of the crash. Some of the injured passengers and the co-pilot were taken directly to hospitals by motorists, and the uninjured passengers were transported by motorists to the airport. The main fire continued to burn for two hours, dying out just before 18:00 EDT. All of the fires were extinguished by the early afternoon of the following day, at which time investigators were able to begin their work. The accident led to the cancellation or diversion of hundreds of flights, with ripple effects throughout the North American air traffic system. Four of the five runway surfaces at Pearson Airport were back in service by the night of 2 August, but the flight and passenger backlog continued through the next day. Highway 401 cropped

The accident also caused heavy traffic congestion throughout Toronto's highway system. Highway 401 is one of the world's busiest highways, and is the main route through the Greater Toronto Area; the crash occurred near the highway's widest point where eighteen lanes of traffic are directed toward major intersections with Highways

403 Year 403 ( CDIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Theodosius and Rumoridus (or, less frequently, year 1156 ''Ab ...

and

410 __NOTOC__ Year 410 ( CDX) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year after the Consulship of Honorius and Theodosius (or, less frequently, year 11 ...

to the southwest and Highway 427 to the northeast. Although the fire was extinguished within hours, there was considerable congestion on the highway for days after the accident due to motorists slowing down or pulling over to view the wreckage. This created numerous traffic collisions, prompting the

Ontario Provincial Police The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) is the provincial police service of Ontario, Canada. Under its provincial mandate, the OPP patrols provincial highways and waterways, protects provincial government buildings and officials, patrols unincorp ...

to increase patrols along that section of the highway.

Weather conditions

A METAR (weather observation) for Pearson was released almost exactly at the time of the accident. It stated that the weather at 20:01 UTC (16:01 EDT) consisted of winds from 340° true (north-northwest) at gusting to , with visibility in thunderstorms and heavy rain. The ceiling was overcast at above ground level with towering cumulus clouds. The temperature was . According to the Canada Air Pilot, runway 24L has a heading of 227° true (237° magnetic), and the minima for the ILS approach are ceiling above ground level and visibility or

runway visual range In aviation, the runway visual range (RVR) is the distance over which a pilot of an aircraft on the centreline of the runway can see the runway surface markings delineating the runway or identifying its centre line. RVR is normally expressed in met ...

(RVR) of . 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, while noting smoke aloft from the burning plane. The

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

reported that the accident happened two hours after a ground stop was declared at the airport because of

severe thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are somet ...

s 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 Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an avera ...

, 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 . A

severe thunderstorm warning A severe thunderstorm warning ( SAME code: SVR) is a severe weather warning product issued by regional offices of weather forecasting agencies throughout the world to alert the public that severe thunderstorms are imminent or occurring. A sev ...

had been in effect since 11:30 a.m. and all outbound flights and ground servicing operations had been canceled but landings were still permitted.

Injuries

The table below summarizes the injuries as reported by the

TSB Banking A trustee savings bank is a type of financial institution. * In the United Kingdom: ** Trustee Savings Bank, a bank in the United Kingdom that merged with Lloyds Bank in 1995 to form Lloyds TSB until 2013 ** Lloyds TSB, the name used by ...

. Most of the injuries occurred to passengers and crew located in the flight deck and forward cabin.TSB Final Report, Section 1.15 Survival Aspects, pg 54. Of the twelve occupants who sustained major injuries, nine suffered the injuries from the impact and three from the evacuation. According to passenger reports, the leap from the aircraft to the ground caused numerous injuries, including broken legs and ruptured

vertebrae The spinal column, a defining synapomorphy shared by nearly all vertebrates, Hagfish are believed to have secondarily lost their spinal column is a moderately flexible series of vertebrae (singular vertebra), each constituting a characteristi ...

. The captain sustained back and head injuries during the impact of the crash when his seat was wrenched out of place by the force of the impact, causing him to hit his head against the overhead controls. Minor injuries included twisted ankles, sore necks, bruises and effects from smoke inhalation. A total of 33 persons were taken to various hospitals within and outside Toronto for treatment, of which 21 were treated for minor injuries and released. The York-Finch campus of the

Humber River Regional Hospital The Humber is a large tidal estuary on the east coast of Northern England. It is formed at Trent Falls, Faxfleet, by the confluence of the tidal rivers Ouse and Trent. From there to the North Sea, it forms part of the boundary between th ...

treated seven people for smoke inhalation.

William Osler Health Centre William Osler Health System, formerly William Osler Health Centre, is a hospital network in Ontario, Canada that serves the city of Brampton and the northern portion of the western Toronto district of Etobicoke. The network is named for Canadia ...

Etobicoke General Hospital The Etobicoke General Hospital is a community hospital located at 101 Humber College Boulevard in the Etobicoke district of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Etobicoke General Hospital serves the communities of Etobicoke, Brampton, Mississauga, Caledon, an ...

, Credit Valley Hospital, and Peel Memorial Hospital were additional nearby hospitals that had admitted victims of the crash. In addition to the

Greater Toronto Airport Authority The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA; french: Autorité aéroportuaire du Grand Toronto) operates Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, west of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Toronto Pearson is Canada's largest air ...

, on-site emergency services were also provided by

Peel Regional Paramedic Services Peel Regional Paramedic Services, provide ambulatory and paramedic care for the municipalities within Regional Municipality of Peel, Ontario, Peel Region, in Ontario, Canada. Paramedic Headquarters are located in Brampton at 1600 Bovaird Road east ...

Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services (MFES) provides fire protection, technical rescue services, hazardous materials response, and first responder emergency medical assistance to the city of Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The Fire Service wa ...

Toronto EMS The City of Toronto Paramedic Services (TPS; formerly known as Toronto Emergency Medical Services), is the statutory emergency medical services provider in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The service is operated as a division of the City of Toronto, und ...

, and the

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

patrolled

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

transit buses were used as shelter for victims near the crash site.

Investigation

Representation

Once the emergency response teams had finished their work, the

(TSB) took control of the accident site and led the investigation, with the cooperation of several other organizations in accordance with the provisions of ICAO Annex 13: *

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transporta ...

as the country of occurrence's representative *

as the operator *

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

as the airframe manufacturer *

GE Aviation GE Aviation, a subsidiary of General Electric, is headquartered in Evendale, Ohio, outside Cincinnati. GE Aviation is among the top aircraft engine suppliers, and offers engines for the majority of commercial aircraft. GE Aviation is part of t ...

as the engine manufacturer * French Department of Transport representing the country of operator and airframe manufacturer * United States National Transportation Safety Board representing the country of the engine manufacturer

Evidence

The

flight data recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has ...

and

cockpit voice recorder A flight recorder is an electronic recording device placed in an aircraft for the purpose of facilitating the investigation of aviation accidents and incidents. The device may often be referred to as a "black box", an outdated name which has ...

were sent to France for analysis. Preliminary results indicated that the plane landed from the start of the runway (much further along than normal) at a ground speed of —140 knots being considered normal—with a tailwind, skidded down the runway and was traveling over as it overran the tarmac and fell into the ravine. Tire marks extended indicating emergency braking action. Réal Levasseur Shedalin, 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 to the ground. One passenger took four photographs of the evacuation with his camera, which were released to the media. The final TSB report refers to the photographs and draws conclusions about the nature of the disaster based on them.TSB Final Report, Sections 1.12.6 L2 Emergency Exit Door and 1.18.10 Aircraft Emergency Lighting

Mark Rosenker Mark Victor Rosenker (December 8, 1946 – September 26, 2020) was an American aviation official who served as the 11th chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) from August 2006 through August 2008. He was nominated by Preside ...

, the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), 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." 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." Nevertheless, Muir acknowledged that photographs are "very valuable to accident investigators".

Irregularities

The final TSB report 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 suggests the possibility that the plane was hit in heavy weather by a wet

downburst In meteorology, a downburst is a strong downward and outward gushing wind system that emanates from a point source above and blows radially, that is, in straight lines in all directions from the area of impact at surface level. Capable of pro ...

, 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 would be used in dry conditions to bring the aircraft to a complete stop. In wet conditions the

braking distance Braking distance refers to the distance a vehicle will travel from the point when its brakes are fully applied to when it comes to a complete stop. It is primarily affected by the original speed of the vehicle and the coefficient of friction b ...

increases with a 5-knot tailwind, reversers operative, and a of downpour on the runway to . There was not enough remaining runway available at the touchdown point of AF 358. Other possible irregularities mentioned in a government report on the accident: * Passenger oxygen tanks supposedly exploded in the heat of the fire. ( Emergency passenger oxygen is provided via a

chemical oxygen generator A chemical oxygen generator is a device that releases oxygen via a chemical reaction. The oxygen source is usually an inorganic superoxide, chlorate, or perchlorate; ozonides are a promising group of oxygen sources. The generators are usually ig ...

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 accident. The blueprints would have contained vital information with regard to search and rescue efforts, and provide the location of fuel and pressurised gas tanks so that rescue crews could avoid them. Other irregularities that were not confirmed nor denied by officials: * 12 seconds elapsed between the moment the plane touched down and when pilots applied the

thrust reverser Thrust reversal, also called reverse thrust, is the temporary diversion of an aircraft engine's thrust for it to act against the forward travel of the aircraft, providing deceleration. Thrust reverser systems are featured on many jet aircraft ...

s, which are used to assist braking * One of the aircraft doors opened on its own during the landing, according to witnesses. Black boxes are unable to reveal this data.

Conclusions

The TSB concluded in its final report that the pilots had missed cues that would have prompted them to review their decision to land, and also 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 engine 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 In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for various reasons, such as an unst ...

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 was not aware of the margin of error. * The topography at the end of the runway and the area beyond 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 end safety area (RESA) or, where that is not possible, providing an equivalently effective backup method of stopping aircraft. Other recommendations made by the TSB included having the Canadian Department of Transport establish 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.

Compensation

Within one week of the accident, cash payments ranging from $1,000 to $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 did not retain counsel. After a lawsuit lasting four and a half years, Air France settled the compensation lawsuit with 184 of the 297 passengers (no crew members included) aboard Flight 358. The compensation is for a total of $12 million. Air France agreed to pay $10 million and was released from passengers' claims stemming from the accident, according to the judgment's summary. Airbus and Goodrich, the company that made the emergency evacuation system on the plane, agreed to pay $1.65 million, and claims against them in a lawsuit were released. J.J. Camp, a Vancouver lawyer representing claimants, stated that passengers seriously harmed with either physical or psychological injuries were eligible for the maximum payout of $175,000. Passengers who were not seriously harmed in the accident would receive the minimum payment of between $5,000 and $10,000.

Litigation

Passenger class action

Within a few days of the accident, a

class action suit A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

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 were Gary R. Will and Paul Miller from Will Barristers in Toronto. The plaintiffs sought 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. Ultimately, both suits were consolidated because only one lawsuit was allowed to proceed to court. In December 2009, a $12 million settlement agreement was reached between Air France and the class. The settlement resolved the claims of 184 passengers and their families; 45 other passengers had opted out of the suit, while 68 others had already agreed to a settlement with Air France. Air France stated that it would not lose any money from the lawsuits as it is covered by its insurers. 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.

Air France lawsuit

In June 2008, almost 3 years after the accident, Air France filed a lawsuit against the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, NAV Canada, and the Government of Canada for $180 million. 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.

Aftermath

An inquiry by the

found runway safety zones at the end of runways at some Canadian airports to be below accepted international standards. The report also highlighted that Toronto Pearson's runways meet current Canadian standards, and that runway 24L has a de facto 150-metre RESA. The TSB also suggested that precautions should be taken by airlines when landing in bad weather. In 1978,

Air Canada Flight 189 Air Canada Flight 189 was an Air Canada flight from Ottawa to Vancouver via Toronto and Winnipeg. On June 26, 1978, the McDonnell Douglas DC-9 operating the flight crashed on takeoff in Toronto, killing two passengers. Aircraft The aircraft i ...

had also crashed into Etobicoke Creek, the site of the AF358 crash, resulting in two deaths. The Air Canada

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced by the developer company as the Douglas DC-9 until August 1967 and then by McDonnell Douglas. After ...

blew a tire causing an aborted takeoff on the 24R-06L runway, crashing north of the AF358 accident scene and deeper into the ravine. After the Air France crash in 2005, there were calls for the ravine to be filled or spanned by a bridge, but others argued that such an undertaking would have been prohibitively expensive. The runway on which the Air France plane landed in August 2005, 24L-06R, is an east–west runway with a length of . This runway did not yet exist at the time of the Air Canada crash in 1978. At that time, the current runway 24R-06L was numbered 24L-06R, and the current runway 23-05 was numbered 24R-06L. Air France continues to operate the flight number AF358 but as a Sainte-Marie Réunion-

Orly Orly () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, Île-de-France. It is located from the center of Paris. The name of Orly came from Latin ''Aureliacum'', "the villa of Aurelius". Orly Airport partially lies on the territory of the co ...

flight. The Charles de Gaulle-Pearson route is currently operated as Flight 356, utilizing an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. Airbus A340 operations ended in early 2020 due to flight logistics on the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

Dramatization

The Canadian television series '' Mayday'' (also known as ''Air Crash Investigation'', ''Air Emergency'', ''Air Disasters'' or ''Mayday: Air Disaster'') featured the accident in the season 4 opening episode titled "Miracle Escape" ("Desperate Escape" in certain markets), which included interviews with survivors and a dramatization of the accident. This accident is also featured on

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather foreca ...

television programs ''

Storm Stories ''Storm Stories'' is an American non-fiction television series that airs on The Weather Channel (TWC) and Zone Reality. It is hosted and narrated by meteorologist and storm tracker Jim Cantore. ''Storm Stories'' showcases various types of severe ...

'' and ''

Why Planes Crash ''Why Planes Crash'' was an aviation documentary TV mini-series based on aircraft accidents and crashes. The series was created and named by producer Caroline Sommers, on behalf of NBC Peacock Productions. The series premiere on July 12, 2009, fe ...

''.''''

References

Bibliography

* [Aussi disponible en français:
Rapport d'enquête aéronautique A05H0002
] Cited in Footnotes section below as "TSB Final Report".

Footnotes

External links

Aviation Safety Network page
*

** Final Repor
HTMLPDFArchive
** Final Repor
HTMLPDFArchive
*

Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la Sécurité de l'Aviation Civile The Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA, ) is an agency of the French government, responsible for investigating aviation accidents and incidents and making safety recommendations based on what is learned from those inve ...

**
Accident in Toronto
" **

" (Archive)
Transport Safety Board chronology of events

Transport Safety Board photos

CBS News Special Report – Air France Flight crashes in Toronto, Canada
(Video)

'' Salon'' {{Air France 2005 meteorology Aviation accidents and incidents in 2005 Airliner accidents and incidents in Canada 2005 in Ontario Airliner accidents and incidents caused by weather Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error 358 Airliner accidents and incidents involving runway overruns Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A340 Toronto Pearson International Airport August 2005 events in Canada