All 309 people aboard a jet that overshot a runway and burst into flames at Pearson International Airport Tuesday survived the ordeal, according to fire officials on the scene.
There were 14 minor injuries, however.
Rescue crews trying to extinguish the flames.
One passenger aboard the Air France Airbus A340, Roel Bramar, told CBC News that he saw lightning just as the plane landed in a torrential downpour at about 3:50 p.m.
"I'm sure that the bad weather was responsible," said Bramar, who was not injured and managed to scramble off the plane by means of an emergency chute. He was the second person off the plane, he said.
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Flight 358 from Paris had been scheduled to arrive at Toronto at 3:35 p.m. EDT. Something went badly wrong, and the plane overshot its intended runway by about 200 metres.
The plane skidded off Runway 24 Left, an east-west runway laid out parallel to one of Toronto's busiest roads, Highway 401. It ended up in the Etobicoke Creek ravine, a small valley at the far west end of the airport, the aircraft's fuselage tipped down and its tail in the air.
"We had a hell of a roller-coaster going down the ravine," Bramar said. "All I could think of was 'Get off!'"
Emergency crews were still on the scene by early evening.
While cleanup efforts continued and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada prepared to begin its investigation, all incoming flights were being rerouted to Ottawa's airport.
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The incident happened as most operations at the airport were grounded because of severe thunderstorms in the area.
At mid-afternoon Tuesday, a spokesperson with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said lightning was causing technical problems with the airport's lightning-detection system. All aircraft were grounded for safety reasons as a result, largely to protect crews working on the ground.
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