Air France crash probe begins amid dispute over landing

INVESTIGATORS said yesterday that the Air France jet which crashed earlier this week in Canada appeared to have landed too far down the runway.

This may have led to it skidding into a ravine before bursting into flames.

They were quick to add it was too soon to determine whether the long landing on the 2,700-metre runway, combined with torrential rains and gusting winds, was to blame for the crash on Tuesday, which all 309 people on board remarkably survived.

Chief investigator for Canada’s Transportation Safety Board, Real Levasseur, said: “We do have some information that the aircraft did land long.

“We are still in the process of gathering all that data to find out what that means.”

When pressed on whether landing long would have contributed to the crash, Levasseur said: “An aircraft like the 340 should land well toward the back; how long exactly depends on weight, heavy winds, there are a number of factors,” he said. “We will certainly be looking at information; and if it turns out the aircraft did land further down the runway we will try to determine whether this had a major or critical effect.”

Witnesses and some passengers have said that it appeared that Air France Flight 358 from Paris was coming in too fast and too long when it landed.

“There are quite a few witnesses who say they observed the aircraft halfway down the runway, longer than normal and longer than usual for this type of aircraft,” he said.

He said there was no evidence of a lightning strike.

He also said investigators have determined that all four engine thrust-reversers were working fine.

A dispute has erupted over who approved the landing during the storm.

Investigators have already said the weather played a key role in the crash.