Speed, brakes, steering in Toronto air crash probe

TORONTO - The Air France jet that crashed in Toronto this week was travelling at almost 160km/h as it careened off the end of the runway during a storm and toppled into a ravine, investigators said.

They said the brakes and steering of the Airbus A340 were among items being examined in an investigation that could take months. But it was unlikely a single factor caused the fiery accident Wednesday that was survived by all 309 people aboard.

"We are examining the steering and the brake units," said Real Levasseur, lead investigator with Canada's Transportation Safety Board. "It's slow, painful work." The wide-bodied jet sped off the runway and burst into flames. A few dozen received minor injuries, including broken bones, incurred as they left the aircraft through escape hatches or down emergency chutes.

Levasseur said the crew reported no problems as the plane approached Toronto's Pearson International Airport. The aircraft probably touched down at about 260km/h, but had slowed to only 150km/h by the time it ran off the end of the runway.

He said thrust reversers, used to brake the plane on landing, had deployed on three of the four engines, but the fourth engine was too badly damaged for investigators to say at this stage if the reverser had engaged or not.

But he said the reversers account for only 5 per cent to 10 per cent of a plane's braking power at landing, so even a failure should not have by itself been a major problem.

"Causes to aircraft accidents are always multiple. It's never a single cause," said Levasseur, who is leading a team of 35 from Canada and 17 from elsewhere, including the US National Transportation and Safety Board.

Investigators planned to interview crew members and are examining the plane's black box flight recorders, which could contain between 200 and 4000 pieces of information.

The plane, which had been en route from Paris to Toronto, was reduced to a burned-out carcass after the accident, with pieces of wing and a gleaming, white nose visible among charred and mangled wreckage. The team will remove items like wheels and brake fittings for closer investigation.

Much attention has focused on weather conditions at the airport, which is Canada's biggest and busiest.

The airport was under a red alert as the plane landed, which means there is a danger of lightning and thunder. Planes can land but ground activity, like the unloading of passengers, stops.

"If it turns out that weather conditions were a determining factor, we will make whatever decisions are necessary in terms of safety measures that may be needed," Levasseur said.

Investigators will also look at whether a wet runway could have caused aquaplaning, or if a sudden tail wind could have blown the plane toward the end of the runway.

Air France said the Airbus plane had 28,418 flight hours in more than 3700 flights and had joined its fleet in September 1999 -- making it a relative newcomer compared with the large number of far older planes still flying. It was last serviced on July 5.

The A340-300 has a range of more than 11,000km, which makes it popular with more than two dozen carriers for long-haul flights. It was the first in-flight crash involving an A340, Canadian officials said.

- REUTERS