Two planes collide on the ground in Toronto
January 6, 2018
Two planes collided after landing at Toronto Pearson Airport, starting a small fire and forcing all 168 passengers on one of the planes to leave via the emergency slides.
No passengers or crew members were injured, but one member of the emergency services was treated in hospital, officials said late on Friday.
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The Boeing 737, operated by Westjet, had landed from Cancun, Mexico, and was waiting to approach the gate, when it was "struck" by a Sunwing plane, Westjet said. No crew or passengers were aboard the Sunwing aircraft, as it was hauled away from the terminal by ground crew.
"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 said in a statement.
Both Sunwing and Westjet are low-cost Canadian carriers.
Instagram user Stephen Belford posted a video from inside Westjet's Boeing, showing a fire and shaken passengers as the crew prepared the evacuation.
"Our plane was crashed into by another plane right after the pilot announced they were 'low on staff,'" the user wrote.
Frigid night in Canada
The fire was quickly extinguished by emergency responders at Canada's largest airport. The Transportation Safety Board was also at the scene to investigate the cause of the crash.
Airport officials said that flight operations "have not been significantly affected by the incident," although the airport was struggling due to plunging temperatures that reached nearly -20 degrees Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) overnight on Friday.
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The collision is the second such incident in Toronto in six months. In August, a Canadian and a Polish passenger jet clipped wings. The two planes were also on the ground. The incident caused "serious" damage but no causalities.
dj/nm (AP, dpa. AFP)