A firefighter examines the smoldering wreckage of an Air France jet that overshot the runway at Pearson International Airport and burst into flames August 2, 2005.Kevin Van Paassen
"Major runways at Canadian airports are still too short - increasing the risk of planes overshooting the runway like the Air France jet that crashed and burned five years ago at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, the Transportation Safety Board is warning," reporter Daniel Leblanc wrote in The Globe last Wednesday.
In its latest report, the TSB said its recommendation for the creation of 300-metre safety areas at the end of major runways has been ignored by Ottawa and the country's big airports.
"Even worse, the board said, the government is only consulting the aviation industry on the addition of a 150-metre safety area, or half of the length determined to be necessary after the 2005 Air France crash in Toronto."
Join us today at 1 p.m. ET as Transportation Safety Board Chair Wendy Tadros and Director of Investigations (Air) Mark Clitsome take your questions about the report.
Mrs. Tadros is a lawyer with extensive experience in the transportation sector. She held a variety of management and legal positions with the National Transportation Agency (NTA) of Canada and its predecessor, the Canadian Transport Commission.
Mr. Clitsome, a former airline pilot, has participated in many of the TSB's high-profile air investigations as a senior member including the Swissair, MK Airlines and Air France investigations.
As a senior member of the TSB's Swissair investigation team, Mr. Clitsome was one of the recipients of the Jerome F. Lederer Award presented by the International Society of Air Safety Investigators for "outstanding contributions to technical excellence in accident investigation" in 2001.
Mr. Clitsome holds an Airline Transport Pilot Licence endorsed for the B727 and C550 with over 8000 hours of flying experience.