An Air Canada jet is seen at Pearson Airport in the early hours of Friday, Aug. 5, 2011. (Tom Stefanac / CTV News) An Air Canada jet is seen at Pearson Airport in the early hours of Friday, Aug. 5, 2011.
(Tom Stefanac / CTV News)
There were no injuries but lots of delayed passengers after an Air Canada plane veered off the edge of the runway at Pearson airport Thursday night.
The Frankfurt-bound plane, which was supposed to leave Toronto shortly after 10 p.m., accidentally left the runway and drove onto the grass while it was taxiing from the airport gate, an Air Canada spokesperson said.
Police say one of the plane’s wheels got stuck in the grass, which cannot support the weight of the plane.
Air Canada said there was no major damage to the plane.
Matthew Ponsford, a passenger on the plane, said the flight left the gate around 10:45 p.m.
“When the plane was going down the runway, there were three small bumps and it kind of felt like the weight shifted to one side of the plane,” he said.
Then the pilot came over the PA system and told passengers they were having some problems with the landing gear, he said.
They were told to remain seated but after about an hour, airline staff said they were going to be taken off the plane.
Ponsford said one shuttle bus relayed back and forth between the runway and terminal to carry the 265 passengers back to the airport, where they were briefed about overnight hotel bookings.
But it was only when passengers were on the bus and were looking back at the plane that they found out the front-left wheel was on the grass, said Ponsford, who was supposed to catch a connecting flight to Amsterdam from Frankfurt.
“[Air Canada] tried to inform people…but we were never told we were physically off the runway,” he said.
By 1:15 a.m., almost three hours after the flight was supposed to depart from Toronto, only about half the passengers were moved off the plane, Ponsford said.
“All the passengers took it really well. People were very patient and had good humour,” he said.
Air Canada paid for passengers to stay in hotels overnight. The flight was rescheduled to leave Friday afternoon.
Airport crews are working on moving the plane off the grass, which will probably take until Friday morning, police said.
Source: http://www.thestar.com/news
No injuries were reported after an Air Canada jet inadvertently went off the runway and onto the grass at Pearson International Airport.
An Airbus 330 bound for Frankfurt was taxiing along the airstrip late Thursday evening when it accidentally veered onto airport grass, an Air Canada spokesperson said. It is not yet known why the plane slid off its route.
There were 265 people aboard the plane at the time. Emergency crews requested air stairs to get passengers safely off the aircraft.
Officials said there was no major damage to the jet but maintenance crews are currently inspecting the plane.
Passengers were placed in hotels overnight, Air Canada said in a statement released Thursday. The Frankfurt flight is expected to re-depart on Friday.
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