Passengers taking carry-on baggage hampered plane evacuation, TSB says
TORONTO — The Transportation Safety Board says the evacuation of a WestJet plane after a collision with another aircraft at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport was hampered when some passengers tried to take carry-on luggage with them.
The board says the WestJet flight carrying 169 passengers and six crew members from Cancun, Mexico, was waiting for a gate when it was hit by a Sunwing jet being towed to another location at the airport on Jan. 5.
When a large ball of fire erupted near the area where the aircraft made contact, the WestJet crew immediately began an evacuation and the ground crew pulled the Sunwing aircraft back towards the gate.
The TSB says when the Sunwing plane was pulled away, the fire on the wing of the WestJet aircraft self-extinguished, while the fire on the tail of the Sunwing aircraft continued but decreased in intensity.