Crashed plane 'landed long'

2005-08-05 17:37

Toronto - Investigators said on Friday that the Air France jet that crashed earlier this week appeared to have landed too far down the runway, which might have contributed to it skidding off its path and into a ravine before bursting into flames.

They were quick to add that it was too soon to determine whether the long landing on the 2 700m runway, combined with torrential rains and gusting winds, was to blame for the crash on Tuesday, which all 309 people on board remarkably survived.

"We do have some information that the aircraft did land long," Real Levasseur, chief investigator for Canada's Transportation Safety Board, told a news briefing. "We are still in the process of gathering all that data to find out what that means."

When pressed on whether landing long would have contributed to the crash, Levasseur said: "An aircraft like the 340 should land well toward the back. How long exactly depends on weight, heavy winds, there are a number of factors," he said.

Information

"We will certainly be looking at information; and if it turns out the aircraft did land further down the runway ... we will try to determine whether this had a major or critical effect."

Witnesses and some passengers have said that it appeared that Air France Flight 358 from Paris was coming in too fast and too long when it landed at about 16:00 in thunderstorms.

"There are quite a few witnesses who say they observed the aircraft halfway down the runway, longer than normal and longer than usual for this type of aircraft," he said.

Levasseur said there was no evidence, meanwhile, that lightning struck the Airbus A340 as it was landing, as reported by some witnesses. "The wings and wing tips are in pretty good shape."

He also said investigators had determined that all four engine thrust-reversers were in operation and working fine, "so that's a good sign".

- AP