Jet landed too far down runway

2005-08-07 22:12

Toronto - The Air France Airbus jet that crash-landed at Toronto airport touched down too far along the rain-soaked runway to stop in time before overshooting and bursting into flames, a senior investigator said on Sunday.

"I am pretty convinced that there was no way that the aircraft was going to be able to stop before the end with the runway condition that we had, the water on the runway, and the braking action which was poor," said Canadian Transportation Safety Board lead investigator Real Levasseur.

"My preliminary estimate is that there was no way this airplane could have stopped before the end" of the runway, he stressed.

Levasseur is leading the probe into Tuesday's crash-landing of the Air France jet during a violent thunderstorm.

All 12 crew and the flight's 297 passengers survived the near-disaster.

- AFP