Extended Abstract (660K)P13A.4
The Air France 358 incident of 2 August 2005 at Toronto International Airport
Paul Joe, Environment Canada, Downsview, ON, Canada
International airport in Toronto, and slid off the end of the runway into a gully. AF358 carried 309 passengers and crew. There were no fatalities and about a dozen injuries. Severe thunderstorms were in the area for the past four hours and rain was heavy at the time of landing. Of concern where the weather factors that may have been an influence the human factors, decision making, aircraft performance or the runway conditions. These include heavy rain affecting aircraft braking and pilot visibility, lightning either hitting the plane disrupting avionics or distracting the pilot and wind shear affecting the aircraft aerodynamics. The airport is within 35 km of the King City Doppler-Polarization radar which afforded a detailed look at the thunderstorm features.
Radar analysis is compared to surface and aircraft sensors. Results from all data souOn Aug 2, 2005, Air France flight 358, touch downed at Pearson rces were consistent and indicated the aircraft flew along the ragged edge of a thunderstorm, experiencing patches of heavy rain as it landed. The heavy rain was estimated to be about 150 mm/h. The plane flew into the leading edge of a gust front from the rear. This resulted in a quartering wind from behind of about 25-30 knots resulting in a tail wind of about 15-20 knots. A large down burst (10-15 km in diameter, about 3 m/s/km shear) was observed to the northwest of the plane but it did not affect the aircraft. Lightning did not hit the plane but was a distracting factor. Polarization radar indicated hail was not a factor.
Poster Session P13A, Severe Weather and Mesoscale Meteorology II
Thursday, 9 August 2007, 1:30 PM-3:30 PM, Halls C & D
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