On August 2, 2005, Air France Flight 358 was a scheduled international flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle to Toronto-Pearson. There were 297 passengers and 12 crew members onboard the Airbus A340-313E. The pilots were Captain Alain Rosaye, 57 (who had a total of 15,411 flight hours), and First Officer Frédéric Naud, 43 (who had a total of 4,834 flight hours).
Accident:
As the plane descended towards Toronto, visibility was poor with heavy rain, severe winds and severe thunderstorms surrounding the city. They were in a holding pattern earlier due to the weather. At 3:52pm, the crew contacted Toronto Approach and the approach controller cleared the A340 for the approach to runway 24L, then instructed the pilots to turn left and fly at a heading of 210 degrees and intercept the localizer.
The crew then received clearance to descend to 5,000 feet and reduce their speed to 190 knots. At 3:55pm, the pilots received further clearance to descend to 4,000 feet and were cleared for an ILS approach to runway 24L. The controller now tells the pilot to reduce their speed further to 160 knots for the approach and to contact Toronto Tower. The KIREX fix was located at 6.0 DME. After configuring the aircraft for landing, the plane was cleared to land with the first officer at the controls.Moments later, the aircraft touches down almost half way down the wet runway faster than normal. To make matters worse, the thrust reversers were activated 17 seconds after touchdown, this caused the pilots to not have enough runway left to stop in time. The A340 overshot the end of the runway, careened to the left, went down on a slope and came to rest in a bullet and caught fire. Miraculously, all 309 people onboard managed to escape the burning plane. This was the first accident involving an Airbus A340.
Conclusion:
The TSB of Canada determined that the plane was too high and fast on the approach and that the crew conducted an approach in a severe and rapidly changing thunderstorm. There were no procedures within Air France related to distance required from thunderstorms during approaches and landings, nor were these required by regulations. After the accident, Captain Rosaye never flew again due to his injuries and First Officer Naud was suspended for 3 months before flying again with Air France.
