Two airliners collided on the ground at a Toronto airport on Friday, setting the tail of one aircraft alight and prompting passengers to evacuate the other via an emergency slide.
WestJet and Sunwing confirmed that their planes were involved in the collision at 6:19pm at Toronto Pearson International, the second such incident at the airport in five months.
The airport said several hours after the collision that all WestJet passengers were safely at the terminal, adding that one of the airport’s fire and emergency service personnel was undergoing hospital treatment.
Photo: John-Ross Parks / via Reuters
“At this time, airport operations have not been significantly affected by the incident, but continue to be challenged by the extreme cold weather conditions,” the statement said.
The panicked shouts and cries of those aboard were audible on one Instagram video shot by a passenger inside the WestJet plane.
The clip showed flames erupting from the Sunwing aircraft, sending black smoke spewing into the frigid night air.
“Our plane was crashed into by another plane right after the pilot announced they were ‘low on staff,’” wrote the user who posted the video, under the handle stephen_belford.
WestJet said on Twitter that the Boeing 737-800 plane had 168 passengers and six crew on board, and had arrived in Toronto via Cancun.
Waiting to proceed to the gate, the aircraft “was struck by a Sunwing aircraft pushing back from the gate,” WestJet said.
“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,” the airline tweeted.
The company did not specify if the incident resulted in injuries, but said “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,” it said.
Sunwing said in a statement posted on its social media pages that “there were no Sunwing crew or passengers onboard at the time of the incident,” adding that its aircraft had been “under tow by our ground handling service provider” prior to the collision.
Toronto’s weather was clear on Friday night as the temperature plunged close to minus-20°C.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada had arrived at the scene and launched an investigation.
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