Pilot error blamed in Pearson crash

Pilot error blamed in Pearson crash
12 second delay ‘excessive,’ Le Figaro quotes experts as saying

ASSOCIATED PRESS

PARIS – Air France said it would neither confirm nor deny a newspaper report today that said the crash of a jet in Toronto last month could have been caused by pilot error.

France’s Le Figaro newspaper said that analysis of one of the plane’s flight recorders showed that 12 seconds elapsed between the moment the plane touched down and when pilots applied the reverse thrusters, which are used to assist braking.

The newspaper did not say how it obtained the information.

Air France spokeswoman Marina Tymen said the company had no comment on the report while the investigation into the Aug. 2 crash was continuing. She said the black boxes were still in the possession of Canadian authorities.

“We can neither confirm nor deny it,” she said. “We don’t comment on newspaper reports whatever they are.”

Air France Flight 358 from Paris landed at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport amid heavy thunderstorms, skidding off the runway for about 200 metres before slamming into a ravine and catching fire.

None of the 309 passengers and crew members died.

Le Figaro’s report said that experts found the 12-second delay to be “excessive.” It said that the black box recordings were expected to be made public Oct. 4.