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On 2 August 2005, Air France Flight 358 overruns the runway, travels through the airport perimeter fence and plunges down a small ravine while attempting to land in a storm. All 309 passengers and crew survive. The causes of the crash were the aircraft deviating above the required approach path for its landing, touching down too far along the runway and the crew deploying the thrust reversers too slowly.
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00:01In heavy wind and blinding rain, the crew of a passenger jet struggles to land.
00:08Put it down! Put it down!
00:19A terrifying crash landing leads to a desperate fight to survive.
00:24The only thing that matters to me now is to get my daughter Emily and protect her as we blow
00:29up.
00:30Get out! Get out of here!
00:33But we just knew that there were so many passengers in that plane that had not gotten out.
00:42Open the door! Open the door!
00:50Made it! Made it!
01:02This is a true story, based on air traffic control recordings, official reports, and interviews with those involved.
01:13Tuesday, August 2nd, 2005. Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
01:21297 passengers are boarding Air France Flight 358, bound for Toronto.
01:26Far aisle, left-hand side.
01:28Yes.
01:32Philippe Lacalle is traveling with his wife and two of his four children.
01:38They're stuck at the back of the enormous jet, and they're not sitting together.
01:48It just happened that we were separated from Emily.
01:51They had three seats together, so we were in the middle section, and Emily was actually sitting a couple of
01:56seats ahead of us on the right side, so close to the right wing of the plane.
02:04For Eddie Ho, Flight 358 is the continuation of a trip that began in Johannesburg.
02:10I'm an international student in Canada at Queen's University, and every summer I go back to South Africa.
02:19Ho isn't traveling light.
02:22I was carrying everything that I had, my books to my clothing to tuition money for the year, computer laptops.
02:34This is also another leg in a long journey for Joanne Cordery Bundok, who's returning from a trip to Thailand.
02:43I rerouted myself in the last two days before the flight from Bangkok through Paris to come directly to Toronto.
02:52As the passengers continue to board, the flight crew gets settled in to the Airbus A340.
02:59The captain is 57-year-old Alain Rosay.
03:02He's been with Air France for more than 20 years.
03:06His co-pilot is 43-year-old Frederic Noe.
03:09Do you want to start, or should I?
03:11Why don't you fly first, and then I'll take over for landing in Toronto.
03:17I'll check the weather.
03:19On this flight, the two men decide that Captain Rosay will handle the take-off in Paris,
03:24and co-pilot Noe will land in Toronto.
03:28Destination Toronto Pearson.
03:30Crews often split the duties so that co-pilots can get more experience.
03:37Rizai and Noe are joined by one other person in the cockpit.
03:41I think you've been expecting me. I'm Miles Trouchassé.
03:44Miles Trouchassé is the son of an Air France employee.
03:47He's allowed to ride in the cockpit's jump seat for free.
03:51I just want to let you know I've done this before. I promise I'll be quiet.
04:00This Air France plane is one of the safest in the world.
04:04Since the A340s first went into service in 1993, they've had an excellent safety record.
04:10Air France 358.
04:12Air France 358. Runway 27 left. Cleared for takeoff.
04:18Clear for takeoff. Air France 358.
04:20Have a good afternoon, gentlemen.
04:26Just a few minutes before two in the afternoon, Flight 358 powers into the sky above Paris.
04:38Toronto may be several thousand kilometers away, but the friends and family of those on board Flight 358 are already
04:45making plans to meet the plane when it arrives.
04:48Huh?
04:51Audrey, I won't forget. I'll make sure to pick up mom and dad.
04:55No, I won't forget the two brats either. I'll get them all.
04:59Well, we usually make arrangements before we go to France to be picked up.
05:02It's easier because we have lots of luggage, you know, and we bring back stuff from France.
05:06So it just happened that Julian, our son, was going to spend the summer in Toronto and was available to
05:12pick us up.
05:13Sis, I'll give you a call soon as we get in. Don't worry. I got it covered.
05:18Okay?
05:19All right. Talk to you soon.
05:22Bye.
05:24Center, we have a Humidex advisory and extreme heat alert for Toronto as well as a thunderstorm warning in effect
05:31for Toronto.
05:44A regular flight from Paris to Toronto takes about eight hours.
05:48As Air France 358 closes in on Canada, there's little to separate this trip from any other.
05:56I found that their service was amazing. The food was great. They had very good flight attendants.
06:05There were a lot of exchange students from France, you know, like teenagers, you know, coming to Canada for their
06:10first time, usually their first flight, and they were very rowdy.
06:17There was a beautiful day on the flight over and the sun was shining and it was just blue skies
06:24and white clouds and just a lovely day.
06:27The autopilot does most of the work for Captain Alain Rezaille and his co-pilot, Frédéric Noe.
06:33Just as the two men had planned, Noe is now in control of the plane.
06:40We have a new weather report.
06:42The two men get regular updates on the weather conditions in Toronto.
06:47Overcast and rainy with a chance of thunderstorms. Temperature in the low 20s.
06:58At Toronto's international airport, the thunderstorms are already rolling through.
07:05Rain, wind and lightning are hammering the runways.
07:11The lightning has already forced airport authorities to declare a red alert.
07:15It means that the chance of being struck by lightning is so great that ground crews are not allowed to
07:20work on the planes.
07:28Just as flight 358 closes in on Toronto, it's put into a holding pattern.
07:34The weather isn't getting any better.
07:36Air France 358, there's going to be a little delay.
07:38Air France 358, so roger on delay.
07:46Air France 358, so roger on delay.
07:47Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking.
07:49I'm sorry to inform you that there'll be a short delay.
07:52There's some weather conditions above Toronto, and we're just going to give it a couple of minutes to clear up.
07:59I was very surprised when I heard the captain's announcement that we were going to be delayed in landing for
08:05about 25 or 30 minutes because of thunderstorms over Toronto.
08:13While they're not in the storm yet, the crew enters their holding pattern northeast of Toronto.
08:18Their alternate airport is almost 300 kilometers away in Ottawa.
08:24At the moment, the plane has a little over 7,500 kilograms of fuel in its tanks, more than enough
08:30to get them there.
08:33Typically, a pilot will think about the economic impact of diverting to an alternate airport.
08:39While that is not a primary decision maker, it is an alternate decision maker as far as if they have
08:45to divert, how are the folks going to be transported from that alternate airport back to the destination airport that
08:53the airplane was originally going to?
08:55Flying almost 300 passengers to Ottawa would be a logistical nightmare.
09:00But the crew can't circle for too long with the fuel they have.
09:04If the delay continues, they'll have no choice but to divert.
09:10Air France, Toronto arrival. Your hold is now cancelled. You are cleared for OASI-2 arrival. Maintain 5,000 feet.
09:19Air France 358, Roger on cancellation of hold. Cleared for OASI-2 arrival.
09:25Today, the delay isn't long at all. Although the storm continues to thunder down near the airport, the crew is
09:33put into their landing sequence.
09:40Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. Just wanted to let you know we are beginning our descent into
09:47Toronto at this time.
09:48We should be on the ground at about 4 p.m. local time.
09:54Usually when they say 45 minutes, you know, it's to be nice. You know, usually it's like an hour, an
09:58hour and a half.
09:59This time it was like 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, they said, OK, well, now we're going to go down,
10:03prepare, you know, for the landing.
10:06With co-pilot Frederic Noh at the controls, the plane begins its descent into the storm.
10:11Air France 358, reducing speed to 190.
10:14Noh isn't prepared for what he's about to face.
10:17The storm has a savage surprise in store for everyone on board flight 358.
10:32A brutal summer storm is battering Toronto.
10:39winds and lightning are hammering the airport, making it tense for incoming planes.
10:46After a short hold, Air France flight 358, with 297 passengers aboard, begins descending into the storm.
10:54Air France�� northeast.
10:58Flaps two.
11:01F speed.
11:03Gear down.
11:04Landing gear down, spoilers armed, 4 green.
11:10Landing gear up, SPEILERS armed, 4 green.
11:12Hand inheritance gear down, spoilers armed, 4 green.
11:26We'll be fine, don't worry.
11:28It immediately turned into very dark skies and dark clouds
11:32and a little bit bumpy and choppy,
11:34and the weather outside was definitely within a thunderstorm.
11:38But really and truly, to me, it was just a typical stormy landing.
11:43Nothing out of the ordinary.
11:45In the main cabin, though, not everyone is so sure.
11:49The plane was getting very bumpy.
11:51There was a lot of turbulence.
11:53We were surrounded, basically, by heavy weather,
11:55and this was completely not expected.
11:58I didn't expect that.
12:09Air France 358, will your final approach?
12:13Air France 358.
12:14Co-pilot Fredric Noe has the plane in position.
12:17He's moments from landing.
12:19Air France 358, roger.
12:21Flaps to full.
12:23Flaps full.
12:40It was going darker and darker.
12:42We were, like, in the middle of hundreds and hundreds of lightnings.
12:45Every second, we had lightnings all around us.
12:49So people were getting nervous, quite nervous.
12:53I was getting nervous.
12:55Ahead of the Air France Airbus,
12:58two other planes have just touched down on the same runway
13:00that Flight 358 is heading for.
13:03Air France 358.
13:05This is Toronto Tower.
13:06Toronto Tower, Air France 358.
13:09Go ahead.
13:10You are cleared to land runway 24L.
13:13Be advised, the preceding aircraft reports braking action is poor,
13:17and they estimate the surface winds near the runway
13:19as 290 degrees at 15 to 20 knots.
13:23Braking poor, 15 knots, gust 220.
13:26France 358, thank you.
13:29The crew is being sent to runway 24L,
13:33which will allow them to land into the wind.
13:36It also happens to be the closest runway
13:38to the city's biggest freeway,
13:40which is gearing up to handle the evening rush hour traffic.
13:50Facing unpredictable winds and a wet runway,
13:53the crew prepare for the landing.
14:00Select auto brakes to medium.
14:03Medium is set.
14:06The final approach for landing was hellish.
14:11Lightnings were all over.
14:14Turbulences were enormous.
14:16You could feel the pilot fight with the plane
14:19to keep the plane in line with the runway to land,
14:23and they had a heck of a time to keep it lined up.
14:28I know my son next to me was getting very nervous,
14:31and I was nervous to see my daughter actually far from us.
14:39I cinched up my seatbelt, tighter than it was,
14:43expecting a very hard landing,
14:46and the pilot was going to stick it on the runway,
14:48or we were maybe going to do a touch-and-go
14:51and he was going to give it power and go around,
14:53because I knew that it was not going to be just a normal landing.
15:01Landing.
15:02Autopilot, autothrust off.
15:05At two minutes after four o'clock,
15:07Air France Flight 358 roars over the beginning of the runway.
15:38Put it down.
15:39Put it down.
15:49This landing was more intense and harder
15:54than any time I've ever landed in another aircraft.
16:00It's a very difficult landing,
16:02and everyone started clapping,
16:05and even the lady sitting next to me,
16:06and I remember very clearly she said,
16:09you know, wow, that was an amazing landing.
16:18And as soon as she finished that sentence,
16:20then all hell broke loose.
16:27We started just,
16:30the plane started violently going up and down,
16:34and it felt like we were going 100 miles an hour
16:38down a road filled with potholes
16:41that were about three feet deep.
16:49immediately you could see this orange aura,
16:52and for me, it's a picture I will never forget.
16:56My daughter was sitting ahead of us on the right side of the plane,
17:01and at that time, she turned her head towards us,
17:04you know, with very wide eyes, you know, looking at us,
17:07and her face was surrounded by this enormous aura,
17:10orange aura of fire.
17:13Then, moments after touching down,
17:16still traveling at 146 kilometers per hour,
17:19flight 358 runs out of room.
17:27At that point that I believed that we were all going to die,
17:30it was obvious that no one can survive this kind of thing.
17:33I thought this was it.
17:58The next thing that I can remember is that an announcement came.
18:02Ladies and gentlemen, everything's okay.
18:05We've stopped now.
18:07Well, no kidding.
18:08Of course we've stopped now.
18:10But I could tell that everything was not okay
18:13because I could immediately smell jet fuel.
18:17As the smell of jet fuel fills the cabin.
18:20Fire!
18:22We have to evacuate now!
18:25Panic quickly spreads.
18:27Get out of here!
18:28Help!
18:29Get him out of the way!
18:30Get out of the way!
18:31Get out of the way!
18:31Everybody was expecting the plane to row up.
18:35It was obvious.
18:37Smoke and flames are spreading quickly.
18:40Now it's a desperate struggle to escape.
18:43Fire!
18:44Fire!
18:45Fire!
18:46Fire!
18:46Fire!
18:51Fire!
18:53Fire!
18:53Fire!
18:53Fire!
18:53Fire!
18:56If they don't get out, they have just seconds to live.
19:00We know that about two minutes into a fire, in many cases, the environment becomes untenable.
19:07So 90 seconds is a good rule that we use in trying to get people out to make sure that
19:12they have as much time and safety as possible.
19:16297 passengers are desperate to leave the plane.
19:19Emily!
19:20Emily!
19:22Emily!
19:23Emily!
19:23The only thing that matters to me now is to get my daughter Emily, who's sitting like two seats ahead
19:29of me, get her, get her under me and protect her as we blow up.
19:41I'm going to get my luggage, my laptop, and then I thought to myself, what if I would die trying
19:49to get my laptop?
19:50I just said, okay, I've got to get out. I've got to get out.
19:54Flight 358 has eight possible emergency exits, but seconds after the crash, most of them aren't open.
20:01People were crawling over the seats, they were pushing each other.
20:05It was basically all for yourself.
20:08It's a fight. Stay calm, please.
20:10Please stay quiet.
20:17Open the door! Open the door!
20:25And I could see the air attendant there.
20:29Struggling with the fact that, should I or should I not open this door?
20:33Because the fire was raging just in front of it.
20:39If the fuel tanks rupture and we have a lot of fuel that gets out onto the ground,
20:46well then there's enough heat and fire there that would cause the airplane skin to melt in a couple minutes.
20:52At the front of the plane, thick smoke is pouring in through one of the open doors.
20:57Joanne Cordery-Bundock races to the other side of the plane.
21:01The gentleman in front of me had his bag with him and he was kind of fumbling around with that
21:06and trying to take that down the slide.
21:08He was a rather large man and the slide did not deploy the entire way.
21:15So I kind of bailed off the side above him and hit the ground.
21:20Eddie Ho has found an exit too, but there's no slide.
21:24And people pushing me forward, I couldn't even control myself.
21:29Um, and I was like, you know, I don't want to jump as well because, you know, it's five metres
21:35down at least.
21:36Come on! Stop! Come on!
21:39Is he OK? Is he OK?
21:47In the cockpit, Captain Rosai has been badly injured when his seat was ripped off the floor by the force
21:53of the crash.
21:59As pressure seconds tick by, the flight attendant near the Lakaise manages to open the exit door.
22:06Even though passengers are confronted with the flames and smoke of the burning engine, they jump out of the plane.
22:13So I pushed him down, my wife went down, I went down.
22:18We just ran up as fast as we could through torn metal and thorns and, like, through whatever was left
22:30of the ground where the plane was.
22:34Once the fire gets inside the airplane, all of the furnishings are much like furnishings in your house.
22:40And there are foams and materials that, when they catch on fire, produce toxic gases.
22:45And that's really the, uh, the most important, uh, lethal aspect of the fire.
22:57Basically, you just had to jump. So what I did was, you know, I prayed quickly and I closed my
23:04eyes and, and jumped.
23:11Emergency workers are able to reach the burning jet just 52 seconds after it crashes.
23:17But with the threat of an explosion, it's dangerous to get too close.
23:20It was very difficult to see anything due to the rain that was coming down.
23:25There was a lot of smoke, uh, engulfing the plane, some fire that was still ongoing.
23:30Um, as well as you could see that some of the parts of the plane had, uh, broken off.
23:36Some of the wheels that were at the side of the roadway, as well as portions of the plane's wings
23:41that had broken off.
23:44Philippe Lacai and his family struggle up the hill the plane has just plowed down.
23:49You know, uh, and at that point, they, um, the plane blew up.
23:58Once, twice, three times.
24:01So you could feel and hear this enormous explosion actually, uh, taking place.
24:08Um, on the first one, I looked at the first one because I just couldn't believe my eyes.
24:12You know, I could see, I think, pieces of luggage, things flying up in the air, you know.
24:17And, of course, at that time, I figured, oh, my God, you know, that could have been us, you know.
24:25We had a perfect view of the airplane and see this black smoke coming out the side of the airplane
24:34and the yellow and the orange and the red flames shooting out.
24:39We were fine, but we just knew that there were so many passengers in that plane that had not gotten
24:46out.
24:56August the 2nd, 2005.
24:58Air France Flight 358 has crashed off its runway in Toronto.
25:03Flames are tearing at the fuselage.
25:05Smoke is pouring from the ruined jet.
25:08Dazed passengers are stumbling from the plane.
25:16Passengers that were coming up, uh, again, were very, uh, rain-soaked and muddy from coming up the hill.
25:23There were several individuals that, once they got up there, were crying and a bit emotional,
25:28uh, as well as looking around for other passengers or, or family or friends that may have been with them
25:34at the time.
25:35About 35 minutes ago, a plane ran off the, uh, runway at Toronto's Pearson Airport.
25:41Footage of the crash quickly appears on local TV stations.
25:46Philippe Lacay's daughter Audrey is one of the many people shocked by the pictures.
25:50She turned on, uh, her TV, and here we go.
25:53There was the Air France crash right here, live in front of her, you know, burning, exploding right in front
26:00of her eyes.
26:00Two hundred and fifty people on board.
26:03We have not had any reason, uh, to, uh, make a statement yet as to whether anybody has survived or
26:10escaped.
26:13Philippe Lacay's son Julien is waiting for his father at the airport.
26:17He has no idea what's just happened to the Air France flight.
26:20What?
26:21What do you mean where am I, not the airport, where are you from up and down, like...
26:26What?
26:28So, Julien didn't know anything, and he was there at the airport.
26:32And she says, well, you know what, I think you're gonna have to wait a long time, because their plane
26:36just crashed.
26:38One of the busiest highways in North America borders the airport.
26:43Just before rush hour, it's packed with thousands of vehicles.
26:46Drivers slow down, captivated by the terrifying sight of the burning plane.
26:57Some of the passengers who've escaped the plane stumble, dazed and shaken, right onto the edge of the highway.
27:07Passing motorists stop to take them to the airport.
27:17At this point, there was only about 25 or 30 people with me in the airport.
27:26And in here, you're also beginning to think, is this all there is?
27:31As people are brought in, airport employees struggle to account for all the passengers and crew.
27:38They were totally disorganized.
27:41There's no announcements being made, there's nothing of any kind of organization,
27:48and you're in this little crowded area with all the array passengers waiting to be processed.
27:56Some people even said, you know, the first disaster was the plane crash.
28:02And the second disaster is exactly how it was handled afterwards.
28:09Relatives wait desperately for any news.
28:17Julien Lacai is just one of many who fears the worst.
28:22For at least an hour and a half, he thought we were dead.
28:25That's a shame because, of course, we panicked, we were scared to death.
28:30But the families that were waiting for the passengers, they were even more scared,
28:35because it lasted much longer.
28:37They really believed, deep down, that their family members were dead.
28:43Finally, hours after the crash, passengers who have waiting family members are reunited.
28:49Julien!
28:51Julien!
28:53You okay?
28:58We finally met up with Julien.
29:00It was 11 o'clock at night.
29:05It was, you know, God, we're so lucky.
29:11We're so lucky, we're alive, you know.
29:17It's hard to explain, but it's like you're giving a second chance, you know.
29:23Here's my son, you know.
29:24Maybe I didn't tell him I loved him, you know, when I left for France.
29:27Now it's time to say it right away.
29:30It was a very nice moment.
29:34A very, very deep moment.
29:36It's just one of dozens of reunions.
29:40It takes hours to confirm.
29:42But by early evening, Air France and the local airport authorities can make the incredible announcement.
29:48Remarkably, every single passenger and all the members of the crew of Flight 358
29:53have managed to escape the burning wreckage of their plane.
30:08The next day, smoke and charred wreckage are all that remain of Air France Flight 358.
30:16The Airbus A340 is a sophisticated, highly engineered plane with a glowing safety record.
30:25What had gone so terribly wrong?
30:33Canada's transportation safety board quickly begins investigating the accident.
30:42Landing, autopilot autotrust off.
30:46Rain and lightning had been battling the airport all afternoon.
30:50Was it simply bad weather that caused this crash?
30:55Put it down.
30:56Put it down.
30:58Put it down.
31:02Neither the pilot nor the co-pilot have spoken publicly about the crash.
31:07We have to evacuate now.
31:10Citing lawsuits that were filed soon after,
31:13Air France has kept all of its employees who were on the plane from speaking to the media.
31:18Is he okay?
31:19I don't know.
31:20Is he okay?
31:20I don't know.
31:21But former Air France trainer, LV Labart, has spoken to Captain Rosai.
31:28We spoke, let me think, for half an hour.
31:31He told me that this is the crucial point, that he has control.
31:35More specifically, informed control that he had reached the point where he would have to consider diverting.
31:42What he told me is that control informed him that they would soon open the runway.
31:48There was, of course, a lot of lightning, rain and turbulence.
31:52And turbulence can have a devastating effect.
31:55Instruments become more difficult to read.
31:57The aircraft is harder to handle.
32:01The aircraft is more difficult because they move a lot.
32:04Investigators discover that as the crew struggled for control in the cockpit,
32:08on the ground, delicate instruments used to measure the wind at the runway were destroyed by lightning.
32:14With the ground equipment destroyed, they were relying on their onboard systems for information about wind conditions.
32:20The onboard equipment only gives them the actual wind direction and speed on the nose of the aircraft at that
32:28exact time.
32:29It does not predict ahead of the aircraft.
32:32So the pilots really have no way of knowing what lies ahead of them.
32:39But two planes had touched down just minutes before the Air France flight, on the same runway.
32:45The crews of those planes did their best to inform air traffic control of the tricky conditions.
32:51Air France 358, this is Toronto Tower.
32:54Toronto Tower, Air France 358, go ahead.
32:59You are cleared to land runway 24L.
33:01Be advised, preceding aircraft reports braking action is poor.
33:05And they estimate the surface winds near the runway as 290 degrees at 15 to 20 knots.
33:1320-knot winds are strong, but are well within the allowable range for landing an A340.
33:19But when investigators study radar images of the airport, they discover quite a different story.
33:26As Flight 358 landed, a sharp line of rain moved across the runway from north to south.
33:32It was driven by a sudden gust of wind of up to 33 knots.
33:37The crew of the Air France jet had to deal with conditions that were much worse than they were expecting.
33:42Landing, autopilot autothrust off.
33:4633 knots is the demonstrated maximum crosswind for an A340.
33:52And that would be on a dry runway.
33:54So, when you say 33 knots at 90 degrees, you're encroaching on the limits of the aircraft.
34:05Closely studying the airport, investigators uncover another piece of the puzzle.
34:10Maintenance issues, and the storm itself, were forcing air traffic controllers to use runway 24L for landings.
34:17It's the shortest runway at the airport, almost 650 meters shorter than some of the others.
34:24Blinded by rain, driven by unexpected winds, and landing on the shortest runway at the airport, Flight 358 was in
34:31a dangerous position.
34:35Over the previous four hours, they had been made aware of the terrible storms and red alerts.
34:41And that was, for me, my biggest concern.
34:43Were they perhaps overtired? Were they lax victims of routine?
34:48In any case, it's obvious that they hadn't gauged the extent of the danger.
34:54It's evident that the flight crew didn't perceive the information that they were getting from these various sources as being
35:01threatening.
35:02Therefore, they attempted to make a landing.
35:05But even in bad conditions, even on a short runway, the crew had 3,000 meters in which to land
35:11their plane.
35:12It should have been enough.
35:14To find out why it wasn't, investigators turned to the past.
35:18In 1999, an eerily similar accident took place in Little Rock, Arkansas.
35:23I can't see anything. Damn, we're off course.
35:24No, I can't see it. Way off.
35:26Struggling with unpredictable weather, the crew of an American Airlines jet landed their plane, only to have it skid off
35:33the runway.
35:3711 people were killed.
35:39Greg Feith helped investigate that crash.
35:43One of the first things that I thought about was deja vu.
35:47Having the first bits of information about the Air France accident, it reminded me so much of the American Airlines
35:54accident.
35:56In the Little Rock crash, Feith discovered that the crew had made a critical mistake which contributed significantly to the
36:02accident.
36:04They hadn't followed all of the checklist procedures and they didn't have the ground spoilers armed,
36:09which basically degrades the efficiency of lift on the wing and settles the airplane heavily on the main wheel so
36:16that braking action is more effective.
36:19Spoilers are only one of several ways pilots of passenger jets stop their massive planes.
36:25Reverse thrusters are used to redirect the engine power forward as the plane lands.
36:29And sophisticated brakes help slow the jets down.
36:35To rule out any mechanical fault, all three systems are examined by investigators of the Air France crash.
36:42One of the brakes on Flight 358 was destroyed in the fire, but the seven other sets of brakes are
36:47all tested after the accident.
36:49All of them are working properly.
36:51Flaps two.
36:52Flaps two.
36:54Flaps two.
36:55F speed.
36:56Gear down.
36:56Investigators in Toronto also discover that unlike in the Little Rock crash, this time the spoilers had deployed properly.
37:03Gear down. Spoilers armed. All green.
37:07And when the engines are examined, the reverse thrusters are deployed. No obvious mechanical fault can be found.
37:17As the investigation continues, a French newspaper prints a bombshell.
37:25Le Figaro publishes a story claiming that the thrust reversers, which used the jets' engines to slow it down, were
37:32not turned on until the plane had been on the runway for more than 12 seconds.
37:39As for Captain Rosay, he confirmed the newspaper report. His explanation was that his co-pilot had tense-stopped and
37:47was having difficulty controlling the lateral movement of the plane.
37:51No doubt because of the strong crosswinds and because the runway was so slippery, his hand was clamped tightly on
37:57the throttle release lever, which prevented the captain from reaching it himself.
38:02So the reverse thrusters could not be activated.
38:08Shortly after the newspaper story appears, investigators publish their initial report.
38:13It confirms Le Figaro's version of events.
38:17Canada's Transportation Safety Board reveals that while the thrusters were found in the on position at the crash site, they
38:23had not been deployed as soon as the plane landed.
38:26In fact, it took 17 seconds before they reached maximum power.
38:31The delay was a question raised in the report, and I wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to why
38:37there was such a delay or what was the cause of it.
38:41I just know that pilots, as a rule, want to get those reversers in as quickly as possible for maximum
38:49stopping.
38:50The investigators reveal other confusing facts about the last few seconds of Flight 358.
39:00When it came over the start of the runway, it was twice as high as it should have been.
39:05And when it did land, it was nearly halfway down the runway.
39:10Put it down! Put it down!
39:14In these stormy conditions, the crew didn't have enough time to stop.
39:21Once they found that the airplane had floated down the runway, the pilot has to make the decision whether we
39:26stay on the ground and try to salvage this bad situation,
39:30or we abort the landing, power up, pull up, and go around, get our stuff together, and then come back
39:37for a second landing.
39:39But decisions in a cockpit are joint decisions. The captain and the first officer work together.
39:47If the captain sees that landing will be difficult, he must open throttle and go through abort landing procedures.
39:54That's his duty.
40:00And of course, the co-pilot is also allowed to be the first to act.
40:04But the captain's duty is to avoid at all costs a lengthy touchdown. That is clear.
40:13By the time the plane touched down, it had only 1500 meters to stop.
40:18And when it did land, critical seconds were lost when the reverse thrusters weren't engaged.
40:28Would it have made a difference to immediately activate the reverse thrusters? Of course it would.
40:34Since reverse function reaches its peak efficiency at high speed, that is, the exact moment of touchdown, that's what reverse
40:41is there for.
40:43It's all a matter of aerodynamic braking.
40:46The other problem is that the wheels touched ground in the middle of the runway.
40:51And reverse or no reverse, at that point it was already too late, as was pointed out by the head
40:55of the inquiry.
40:57That being said, if the reverse thrusters had been activated immediately, the plane would have come to a stop more
41:04quickly.
41:08In heavy storms, the margin for error is razor thin.
41:13On this rain-filled afternoon, sudden wind, a long landing and a short runway sealed the fate of everyone on
41:19board flight 358.
41:24What concerns some in the aviation industry isn't this particular flight, but the reality that overruns are far too common.
41:32They happen all around the world.
41:35And safety procedures that could stop them are not in place.
41:44In August 2005, Air France Flight 358 crashed off the end of a runway in Toronto.
41:53It was a horrifying incident.
41:55Yet amazingly, everyone survived.
41:59But Flight 358 wasn't the only jet to go off the end of a runway in 2005.
42:07Worldwide, there were 37 other runway overruns.
42:10And the causes of all these accidents were remarkably similar.
42:15There are a number of causal factors that occur again and again in runway overrun accidents.
42:21The weather conditions.
42:24The state of the runway surface.
42:26It can be wet, it can be icy, it can have snow on it.
42:30Speed in excess of a normal approach speed for the aircraft.
42:36That does not then bleed off as the aircraft attempts to land.
42:40And these factors occur again and again in runway overrun accidents.
42:45Unlike the crash at Toronto, some overruns are deadly.
42:49This Southwest Airlines flight in Chicago slid off its runway several months after the Air France crash.
42:55A small child was killed in a car that was driving on the nearby highway.
42:59Many older airports, in particular in big cities which have expanded out towards the airport in the course of their
43:06growth,
43:07are constrained in the area that they can use for overruns.
43:13You have to consider what happens when the runway is contaminated.
43:17Snow, ice, standing water.
43:20That will degrade the stopping performance of the airplane.
43:24Add to that a tailwind component, which was existent at the time that Air France landed.
43:30That, in combination with the contaminated runway, can jeopardize the landing performance and in fact increase it probably by 50%.
43:40The International Civil Aviation Organization recommends that every airport have a 300 meter safety zone at the end of runways
43:48that handle international flights.
43:50Canadian standards are a little less strict.
43:53They call for a 60 meter overrun area and recommend another 90 meters on top of that.
43:59Runway 24 left meets the low end of those recommendations.
44:04There was another runway over an accident to the runway in Toronto, which was very closely aligned with the runway
44:12that is there at the moment.
44:13In 1978, when a DC-9, an Air Canada DC-9, rejected a takeoff and ran into the ravine.
44:22Well, the plane started to break and then there was just nothing and then we dropped over the edge.
44:28There was about a 50 foot drop, I guess, at the end of the runway.
44:32We just went over the top and then there was a heck of a bang and people and seats all
44:37over the place.
44:39Two people died in the 1978 accident.
44:42A coroner's inquest after the crash recommended that the gully be filled in, but it never was.
44:48It's a steep ravine. It has about a 50 foot drop off and when you take a large, complicated and
44:53fragile piece of machinery like a commercial aircraft and you drop it 50 feet, then it tends to break.
45:01There is a possible solution to runway overruns, but it's not being used in Toronto or many other international airports.
45:08It's called EMAS or Engineered Material Arresting Systems.
45:15It's a form of artificial stone or artificial gravel, which has a certain depth.
45:22And anybody who's ridden a bicycle into a gravel pit knows that the bicycle stops very quickly and it can
45:29be almost impossible to pedal it out.
45:31And the same thing happens to airplanes.
45:33Several airports in the US use the system, but most international airports do not.
45:39It's very much more effective than friction breaking and it's certainly incomparably more effective than thrust reverse and spoilers.
45:49And any one of these systems, when properly engineered, can stop a large airplane, no matter what the runway surface
45:57conditions, in a very short distance.
46:00We have to evacuate now.
46:04But one vital air safety guideline was met when Flight 358 crashed.
46:09In spite of the smoke and the spreading fire, the crew of the crippled plane made sure that all the
46:14passengers escaped in just 90 seconds.
46:20It's just a miracle that all of those people were able to evacuate the airplane as quickly as they did
46:26before the airplane was consumed.
46:29The Air France flight was particularly noteworthy in that everybody got out, essentially unscathed.
46:35I know there were some injuries, but everyone got out.
46:38So I think it was noteworthy and it was very good evacuation from that perspective.
46:46Captain Alain Rosé may never fly for Air France again.
46:50His injuries required extensive physical therapy after the crash.
46:55At the time, he was less than three years from retirement.
47:00Every morning, Captain Rosé relives the experience, coming face to face with the flames, the noise, the crash.
47:07And it made him sad to end his career on that note, having destroyed this plane.
47:11That's the worst possible fate for a pilot, the worst outcome.
47:15The co-pilot, Frederic Noh, is suspended for three months after the accident.
47:20By early the next year, he's back on duty with Air France.
47:24There are reports that after he helped Captain Rosé out of the cockpit, he was the last person off the
47:29plane.
47:34The passengers deal with the crash in their own ways.
47:41I went through nightmares almost every single night.
47:47Flashbacks during the day.
47:49I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat.
47:51I questioned myself, why am I here?
47:54It's frightening to be in such a state.
47:57And it has taught me to be strong.
48:05We really need to take seriously those safety commands and evacuation information, because you never know.
48:13It was a perfect flight.
48:15There's not any indications that anything can go wrong.
48:18And it's right at the very last second that everything happens.
48:26So it's, thank goodness, I'm here to be able to talk about it now.
48:33Open the door! Open the door!
48:37There's a lot of negative in the accident.
48:40And there's a lot of positive.
48:42The negative is, oh my God, you know, I'm gonna die.
48:45Oh my God, it's horrible.
48:46Oh, I have these nightmares.
48:48And you know, yes, I'm traumatized.
48:49And all my kids are traumatized.
48:51However, you have the positives.
48:53And the positives are, gee, I'm alive.
48:57You know?
48:58I have been given a second chance.
49:01I have been given a second life.
49:04And all of us, my wife and my children, myself, we all experience the same positive effects of the crash,
49:15which is we have to give back.
49:17We have to do something for others.
49:19We have to extend our heart out, our compassion to people who need it.
49:25It's almost therapeutic for us, you know?
49:27The more you do for others, the better you're gonna feel.
49:31So, for me, I figured, you know, if I can extend my heart out to others, maybe it's gonna help
49:36me as well.
49:36I don't know.
49:38I don't know.
49:42I's got to.
49:59But, there's a great man who really does, really.