Rescue plans stand Toronto test

By Adam Blenford
BBC News

Air traffic in Toronto was swiftly back to normal after the crash

The sight of a commercial airliner burning in a shallow ravine at the end of Toronto's main international runway has re-opened a debate about safety at Canada's busiest airport.

In June 1978, an Air Canada DC-9 leaving the airport had barely left the ground when the pilot aborted take-off.

Moments later the plane had crashed into Etobicoke Creek, a 15-metre deep ravine running across the end of the runway, parallel to a busy highway.

Two people died and 105 were injured, prompting calls for the creek to be filled or a bridge built to ensure nothing like it ever happened again.

Pleading poverty, Transport Canada said the cost was too high.

'First-rate rescue'

But the latest accident - in which all 309 on board survived - came after a violent thunderstorm lashed Toronto, forcing the airport onto "red alert" status.

How and why Air France flight 358 was given permission to land is certain to be at the heart of the Canadian investigation.

Click here to see graphic of what happened

Chris Yates, a transport analyst for Jane's Information Group, said the 100% survival rate was a reflection on a "first-rate" emergency operation in Toronto.

"Fire services in Toronto were on the scene within one or two minutes. I can't fault their reaction," Mr Yates told the BBC News website.

Evacuation procedures are similar to those in 1978, but other changes have improved the chances of survival in a runway incident.

RECENT CRASHES 10/04: 13 die in Missouri, US 12/03: Boeing 727 crashes in Benin, killing 135 3/03: Algerian Boeing crashes, 102 killed 11/01: American Airlines Airbus crashes in New York, killing 260 4/01: Air Philippines Boeing 737 kills 131 7/00: Air France Concorde crashes in Paris, killing 113 Air disasters timeline

Air travel regulations across North America and Europe have been gradually tightened in an effort to reduce the risks to passengers caught up in accidents.

Chief among these is the so-called "golden rule": every passenger on board a commercial airliner must be able to clamber off the plane within 90 seconds of an incident, even if half the doors are blocked.

The time limit was lowered during the 1980s and flight crews were put through more intensive training designed to help them cope with extreme circumstances.

Emergency lighting is now standard along cabin floors and ceilings, while seats and other furnishings are made from fire-retardant materials.

In Toronto, fire and rescue crews are under orders to reach the scene of an accident and start their work in under three minutes.

Their effectiveness and response times are regularly tested in formal tests, codified in Canada's civil aviation regulations.

Creek defended

Despite the success of the rescue effort, some Canadian critics quickly suggested that the incident could have been avoided entirely if the ravine had been filled or the runway extended.

Captain Bob Perkins, a pilot and union official with Canada's Air Line Pilots' Association, told the country's National Post newspaper that his organisation had pushed hard for an extension for many years.

Another pilot said international aviation charts do not mark the creek as a potential hazard at Toronto. Many flight crews would not know the dangers lurking at the end of the runway, he added.

A spokesman for Transport Canada denied that the runway needed extending, a view backed by Mr Yates.

"If the plane hadn't been stopped it could well have run across the road, causing a much larger disaster," he told the BBC News website.

Questions remain, though, over whether Air France Flight 358 should have been allowed to land in weather conditions described by residents as "fierce" and "scary".

"That's the $64,000 question," Chris Yates said.

"The investigation is going to come down to an argument over whether this was air crew making a bad call or advice from air traffic control."

Click here to return