An Air Canada plane had a collision with a fuel tanker in the early hours of Friday May 10th. The plane was operated by Jazz Aviation on behalf of Air Canada Express. This incident took place at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as the aircraft made its way to Terminal 1. Five passengers had injuries from the incident which took place around 1:36am local time. The aircraft involved was a DHC-8-300 and was originally going to Sudbury. After take-off, the aircraft made a return to Toronto Pearson. This was due to foggy conditions at the destination airport. Flight AC8615 with 50 passengers aboard was taxiing to a gate when the fuel tanker struck the plane. At 1:36a.m. an Air Canada Jazz aircraft came into contact with a Menzies fuel truck while taxiing on the apron. Airport emergency services responded. Passengers and crew evacuated safely to T1. The aircraft and vehicle were removed & no operational impact at the airport. — Toronto Pearson (@TorontoPearson) May 10, 2019 CBC Toronto spoke with Police Sgt. Bancroft Wright who said the the driver is facing charges of dangerous operation of a vehicle. “The plane was pretty much written off,” he added. Unfortunately, no further information was available regarding the driver. A passenger who also spoke with CBC said: “It stopped pretty quickly, but then we started to smell aviation fuel and that’s when panic started.“ According to police, the plane’s two pilots, a flight attendant and two passengers had injuries. CTV News reports that the Canadian Transportation Safety Board has sent a team of investigators to Pearson to investigate the incident. Background Air Canada Express is a brand name in use by four regional airlines, and is a sub-brand of Air Canada. Jazz Aviation is the largest of these partners. The primary role of these partner airlines is to connect smaller cities with Air Canada’s domestic hubs. Jazz Aviation has a fleet of 111 narrowbody regional aircraft. Bombardier Q400s and CRJ900s make up the majority of the company’s planes. Chorus Aviation is the parent company of Jazz Aviation. The aircraft involved was a DHC-8-300. It is a turboprop-powered regional plane and was first introduced by de Havilland Canada (DHC) in 1984. However, in 1988 Boeing purchased DHC but then sold it to Bombardier in 1992. In fact, later this year Bombardier will sell the program to Longview Aviation Capital. The Series 300 has a longer fuselage than the Series 100/200 models. Powering the plane are two Pratt & Whitney Canada PW123 engines. Operating the fuel tanker truck was Menzies Aviation – a UK company that performs landside and airside services including ground handling, cargo, and fuelling. In fact, Menzies operates at over 200 airport locations across six continents. Toronto Pearson International is Canada’s busiest airport handling almost 50 million passengers per year. The airport has routes to over 180 destinations and is one of three main hubs for Air Canada, the other two being Vancouver and Montreal.<doc-sep>Five people were injured during the collision of an Air Canada Express plane and a fuel tanker truck at Toronto's Pearson International airport early Friday. The collision occurred around 1:36 a.m. ET as Flight 8615 was taxiing to a gate at Terminal 1 with 50 passengers aboard. The DHC-8-300 was originally headed to Sudbury from Toronto, but turned back to Pearson due to foggy conditions in the northern Ontario city. According to Peel Regional Police Sgt. Bancroft Wright, the tanker truck struck the plane and the driver has been charged with dangerous operation of a vehicle. "The plane was pretty much written off," Wright told CBC Toronto. The plane's two pilots, a flight attendant and two passengers were treated for injuries, according to Wright. The Greater Toronto Airport Authority (GTAA) said in a brief email statement that three people were eventually transported to hospital, but didn't identify them. A large dent can be seen beneath the cockpit of the Air Canada Express plane at Pearson airport following Friday morning's incident. (Submitted by Daniel Demers) Panic inside the plane "The aircraft and vehicle have been removed and the scene has returned to normal operations. There is no operational impact at the airport," the GTAA said. It stopped pretty quickly, but then we started to smell aviation fuel and that's when panic started. - Paul Frontczak, passenger Passenger Paul Frontczak was on his last leg of a long trip back from Sydney, Australia. He said it didn't look as though the fuel truck would hit the plane until the very last moment. "We were approaching the terminal and on the left side, I looked out, and a large vehicle was barrelling — it appeared parallel to us, but suddenly, bang!" he said from the Greater Sudbury Airport. "It hit the front of the aircraft, threw the aircraft in one direction, it spun the opposite way, and it looks like either the front or the rear of it hit the back of the airplane." Frontczak said that the plane felt like it was sliding for a few moments before coming to rest. "It stopped pretty quickly, but then we started to smell aviation fuel and that's when panic started," he said. "Everyone was like, we got to get out — we got to get out like now." Emergency services responded to the airport after the plane and a fuel truck collided around 1:36 a.m. ET Friday. (Jeremy Cohn/CBC) It was at that point that the evacuation began. Passengers were forced to jump from the plane onto the tarmac below. Frontczak said the process was somewhat chaotic. "Let's just say I wasn't overly impressed and I'll just leave it at that," he said. Kylie Wright echoed that discontentment in an interview with CBC Toronto. She said there was little communication with passengers, and described the aftermath of the collision as "somewhat disorganized." Wright, who was also on her way home after a trip to Australia, called the experience "incredibly scary." "There was a lot of fuel smell and there was a lot of fuel on the ground as well." Wright declined to take a complimentary flight back to Sudbury later Friday out of concerns for her safety. Jazz Aviation LP, the company that operates flights for Air Canada, said in an email statement that they understand that "deplanement can be an uncomfortable experience." "Our crews are professionals and trained to deal with such situations, and they ensured that all passengers were deplaned safely," the statement said. Any passengers who have concerns were asked to contact Air Canada's customer relations directly. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has deployed a team of investigators to the airport.<doc-sep>Send this page to someone via email MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – Five people were taken to hospital with minor injuries and a fuel truck driver was charged after a truck hit a plane on the tarmac at Toronto Pearson International Airport early Friday morning. Authorities say the Air Canada Jazz flight with 51 people on board had left for Sudbury, Ont., but turned around because of bad weather and was taxiing back to the gate when it was struck at 1:36 a.m. A spokeswoman for Peel Regional Police said the truck hit the plane three times, and the truck driver is now facing a charge of dangerous driving. A spokeswoman for Jazz Aviation, which operated the flight under an agreement with Air Canada, said three crew members and two passengers were taken to hospital with minor injuries, but have all now since been released. Story continues below advertisement Interesting evening at Pearson. pic.twitter.com/ZoRUTQiDaR — Bill Dwyer (@builtbybill) May 10, 2019 The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it was deploying a team of investigators to the scene. Menzies Aviation, the company that operates the fuel truck involved in the crash, said it has also begun an investigation to determine what happened. A spokeswoman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson, said the incident had no impact on operations.<doc-sep>
A fuel truck driver has been charged with dangerous driving after the vehicle hit a plane at Toronto’s Pearson airport. Five people were taken to hospital with minor injuries after the truck collided with an Air Canada plane on the tarmac at around 1:36 a.m. Friday morning. The aircraft was taxiing to its gate, according to a spokeswoman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which operates Pearson. Peel Regional Police told CP24 the truck driver was charged with one count of dangerous driving. Flight 8615, an Air Canada Express flight operated by Jazz Aviation, was cleared to taxi to the gate after landing when the collision happened, Debra Williams, communications manager for Jazz Aviation said. “The aircraft came to a full stop and the crew deplaned passengers quickly and they were escorted into the terminal building,” she said. “EMS arrived to assess passengers and crew. Three crew and two passengers were transported to hospital for further assessment.” All injured have now been released from hospital. The aircraft was a Dash 8-300 with 50 passengers and three crew members onboard. The flight was en route to Sudbury when it was forced to turn back due to fog. Toronto Pearson International Airport confirmed the incident in a tweet. “At 1:36a.m. an Air Canada Jazz aircraft came into contact with a Menzies fuel truck while taxiing on the apron,” Toronto Pearson tweeted. “Airport emergency services responded. Passengers and crew evacuated safely to T1. The aircraft and vehicle were removed and no operational impact at the airport.” The Transportation Safety Board said Friday it has sent a team of investigators to Pearson to probe the incident. The extent of damage to the aircraft was not immediately clear. ---- With files from The Canadian Press