By DAVE KOSONIC

Luckily no one was killed in a fiery Air France crash 16 years ago at Pearson Airport that was called a ‘miracle’ by some aviation experts and observers.

Shortly after touching down on Runway 24 Left parallel to Highway 401 at Pearson the out-of-control Airbus A340 with 309 people on board skidded off the end of the runway and into an Etobicoke Creek ravine in a gut-wrenching August 2, 2005 event.

Despite confusion and panic the flight attendants managed to guide everyone out of the aircraft within 90 seconds, moments before it caught fire, burst into flames and blanketed the airport area with huge clouds of dirty grey and black smoke originating from the burning jet and fuel.

The miracle of Flight 358 is that the 297 passengers and 12 crew members all survived. Twelve people were transported to hospitals for treatment of serious injuries but fortunately there were no fatalities.

Jean Lapierre, who was the Federal Minister of Transport, referred to the outcome of the crash as a “miracle” while others dubbed it the “Toronto Miracle”.

The flight had departed from Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris hours earlier. According to flight records the trans-Atlantic crossing was uneventful and the pilots followed their previously filed flight plan. The pilots were identified by Air France as Captain Rosaye and First Officer Naud.

According to records by Pearson flight personnel before the crash ‘severe weather had forced Pearson to cancel 540 arriving and departing flights that day’ due to severe thunderstorms and varying wind speeds and directions that resulted in a risk to aircraft and challenging landing conditions.

Many flights scheduled to land at Pearson Airport were diverted to locations that day including Montreal, Syracuse and Buffalo. But despite cautions provided to the captain and first officer on Flight 358 by Toronto Air Traffic Control the pilots decided to attempt a landing about 4 p.m.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada in December 2007 issued the findings of an investigation into the crash. Some of the key findings of this report indicated that First Officer Naud, who was landing the Airbus, approached Runway 24 Left too steeply at above normal airspeed.

He allowed the aircraft to land too far down the runway. As a result he could not stop it in time and specified that he disengaged the auto pilot just before landing which left him totally in charge of the failed landing.

Captain Rosaye suffered extensive back injuries during the crash and he required multiple surgeries. He was no longer deemed medically and physically fit to pilot an airliner and he retired while experiencing the so-called ‘pilot’s worst nightmare’.

First Officer Naud was suspended for three months by Air France before returning to flight duties with the airline.

Eddie Ho, who was a passenger on the jet, escaped from the crash without a scratch. During an interview the following day he ‘praised the flight attendants and the injured captain who was the last one to escape the aircraft.

Ho recalls a flight attendant firmly saying: “Jump Out! Just Jump Out! Get Out!” before he jumped out of the aircraft four or five meters to safety. “It could have been worse. I am definitely grateful to God”, he added.

Various lawsuits were filed that resulted in financial compensation for passengers while excluding the Air France crew. The airline company also filed a counter lawsuit against Transport Canada.

Documentation claimed that recommendations made after an Air Canada DC 9 jet crashed into the north end of the Etobicoke Creek valley in 1976 killing two passengers were not acted upon that included extending Runways 24 Left and 24 Right over the creek valley.