Passengers safely evacuated after planes clip each other at Pearson
Passengers were evacuated from a WestJet plane on one of the coldest nights in Toronto’s history after two planes clipped each other on the tarmac at Pearson International Airport on Friday.
WestJet says a flight returning from Cancun, Mexico, with168 passengers and a crew of six on board was stationary and waiting to go to a gate when it was struck by a Sunwing aircraft moving back from a gate.
WestJet spokesperson Lauren Stewart said the passengers were evacuated from the aircraft via emergency slides, and all were safely in the terminal and clearing customs shortly after the collision. There are no confirmed reports of injuries.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority said passengers were removed from the plane as quickly as possible and that fire crews extinguished a small fire on the Sunwing aircraft.
Witnesses quickly took to Twitter to share pictures of firefighters around the tail section of the damaged plane.
In a video of the fire that WestJet passenger Stephen Belford posted to Instagram, screams can be heard as passengers watch what appears to be a ball of fire engulf the tail of the Sunwing jet.
“Remain seated!” is repeatedly heard in the video.
“Our plane was crashed into by another plane right after the pilot announced they were ‘low on staff,’ ” Belford wrote.
Westjet was not immediately available to respond to questions about the staffing on Friday night.
Another passenger on a separate plane said he and other passengers could see the Sunwing plane’s tail on fire from his window.
“A woman started shouting that there was a fire,” Sam Borys said, noting his flight was later cancelled.
Sunwing says there were no crew or passengers aboard its aircraft, which was being towed by the airline’s ground handling service provider, at the time of the incident.
Belford’s father, Ken Belford, received a text about a fire on a plane from his son and hurriedly made his way to Pearson. Upon arriving, Bel- ford says the information desk “didn’t know anything about it.”
“I asked to speak to someone at WestJet, and they told me I should just wait.”
Despite a message Belford received from WestJet via social media from WestJet, assuring him that it would send up-to-date information, he says he was not able to reach anyone. Transportation Safety Board spokesperson Chris Krepski says the agency is investigating the incident.
“At this stage of the game the TSB is going to be gathering information — we’ll examine the aircraft, interview people involved and get information about the weather conditions,” he said.
WestJet said they will be in contact with the TSB and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, among other agencies, until the investigation is complete.