Toronto jet virtually impossible to stop finds probe

TORONTO - The Air France jet that slid off the end of the runway in Toronto last week was virtually unstoppable, investigators said today, as they continued to examine flight recorder data for clues to the crash.

The Airbus A340 failed to stop after touching down during a severe thunderstorm at Canada's busiest airport last Tuesday, plunging into a ravine and burning to a charred and twisted hulk. All 309 people on board survived.

Data downloaded from the flight data recorder, or black box, showed that the plane landed about 4,000 feet from the end of the 9,000-foot (2,750m) runway.

"We are talking about nearly halfway down the runway," said Real Levasseur of Canada's Transportation Safety Board.

"I am pretty convinced that there was no way the aircraft could have stopped before the end, with the runway conditions that we had, the water on the runway and the braking action, which was poor."

Information from the flight data recorder also showed that the plane landed at a speed of about 148 knots. The normal speed is 140 knots.

"The pilot flying was fairly close to the airspeed that he should have been at," said Levasseur, who has not spoken directly to the Air France captain.

Levasseur, who leads a team of more than 50, has already said there was no evidence to suggest that lightning was a factor in the crash. There was also little evidence to suggest that hydroplaning, which would have cause the aircraft to skim along on a film of water without touching the runway, played a role.

An expert from the US Federal Aviation Administration was examining the more than 1,600 feet of tire marks left on the runway.

"Definitely because of the weather conditions, the deceleration would have been much slower than what it would have been for a dry runway with maximum braking," Levasseur said. "The brakes are much less efficient on a wet runway than a dry runway."

All passengers and crew were able to get out of the aircraft even though several escape doors were unusable.

Levasseur said fire on one side of the plane prevented flight attendants from opening two of the doors. Obstacles and sharp objects prompted a flight attendant to close another door after the emergency slide was deployed.

Another door partly opened as the aircraft fell into the ravine, and some passengers used that one, Levasseur said.

- REUTERS