Air France files lawsuit over 2005 crash in Canada

Airline Industry Information, June 4, 2008

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Air France has reportedly filed a lawsuit over the crash landing of one of its aircraft at Toronto's Pearson International Airport in August 2005.

The Air France Airbus A340-300 from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris landed in bad weather and skidded off the end of the runway, crashing through barriers and into a ravine. It then broke into pieces and burst into flames, but all 297 passengers and 12 crew members on board managed to evacuate.

According to the Toronto Star, the airline and its insurers are taking action against the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, the federal government and the Canadian air traffic control agency NAV CANADA. The lawsuit claims that the airport authority failed to provide a safe environment and alleges that the runway used by the aircraft which crashed is not long enough.

Air France is seeking damages of some CAD180m.

No comment on the lawsuit has been made by the airport authority or NAV CANADA, but officials have insisted that operations at Pearson Airport are safe.

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