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A Sunwing flight backed into Westjet flight 2425 that was waiting for a gate on the tarmac at Toronto International airport. The wing of the WestJet flight caught fire due to the flight collision and led to the evacuation of passengers.
The Sunwing flight did not have passengers onboard and was being towed by ground crew when it clipped the WestJet flight, causing a fire that led to the evacuation of 168 passengers (and 6 crew members) returning from Cancun. Emergency slides were activated to evacuate passengers onboard WestJet flight 2425. No passenger injuries were reported on the WestJet flight but news reports suggest that a member of the airport Fire and Emergency service was taken to hospital. A passenger, Gostavo Lobo, spoke to CBC news and also posted the attached video on youtube;
“Out of nowhere there was an audible crunch and the plane rocked slightly, we looked out the window and saw that the plane had backed up into us. Everyone was a little shocked and kind of chuckling at the situation. Panic set in when [we saw] what seemed to be fuel spewing from the crash. After a couple of seconds the entire thing ignited and it was chaos inside the plane. People screaming and panicking all while the flight attendants shouted to try and control the situation.”
News Source: CBC News
5 comments
My somewhat-educated guess: the winglet of the WS damaged the APU of the WG, setting off the fire.
Very fortunate all escaped with no major casualties.
My layman question – what is an APU?
To add to it, the fire crew was dealing with -35 celcius temp last night..
Crazy story! The APU stands for Auxiliary Power Unit and is responsible for providing the airplane with power when the engines aren’t running (AC/Heat, Lights, etc).
Ah, that would do it! And to think folks wanted their carry ons before sliding out..
Auxiliary Power Unit. Basically a tiny jet engine that works like a generator. It’s buried in the tail of most airliners including the 737. https://aerosavvy.com/auxiliary-power-unit/
It’s doubly fortunate noone froze to death given the outside temperatures!