Canada: Two aircraft collide at Toronto airport, all passengers safe
The collision sparked a small fire on one of the aircraft, but it was soon extinguished.
Two aircraft collided at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Friday evening, sparking a small fire in one of them. The fire was extinguished and all passengers on the other aircraft were evacuated, Toronto’s airport authority said in a statement.
The Sunwing Airlines aircraft, which caught fire, did not have any passengers on board and it was under tow when it struck the stationary Westjet Airlines, which was waiting to park.
The Westjet plane had just arrived from Cancun, Mexico, with 168 passengers and six crew members on board.
The incident took place on Terminal 3 at 6.19 pm on Friday (4.49 am Saturday Indian time). Fire and emergency services were called after the collision.
Westjet said all its passengers and staff were safe. An investigation is underway.
There has been an aircraft incident involving two aircraft on the Terminal 3 apron. Fire and emergency services have responded and passengers have been evacuated. More details to come.
— Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) January 6, 2018
Due to the position of the aircraft on the laneway, WestJet guests required evacuation via emergency slide. Emergency crews were on hand and responded immediately.
— WestJet (@WestJet) January 6, 2018
Update 1 [18:36 MT] - All 168 guests and six crew are accounted for. We can confirm guests are safely in the terminal and they are in the process of clearing customs.
— WestJet (@WestJet) January 6, 2018