‘Disabled aircraft’ pulled from ditch in training drill at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ontario

Nearly two decades ago, Air France Flight 358 landed at Pearson Airport in Mississauga in heavy rain and, unable to stop in time, overshot the runway and crashed into the Etobicoke Creek ravine.

Miraculously, emergency responders and others said at the time, all 309 passengers and crew aboard the Airbus lived to tell the story of the near-disastrous afternoon landing on Aug. 2, 2005.

Such botched landings at Pearson — and most other airports around the globe — are rare.

Much more common are the realistic emergency training drills run by airports and first responders to ensure they’re prepared to handle the worst of circumstances should things go terribly wrong as large aircraft attempt to take off and land in all kinds of weather.

On Tuesday, Pearson Airport officials in collaboration with Air Canada are conducting their annual “aircraft recovery safety exercise,” the airport said.

“Crews will be pulling a disabled aircraft out of a ditch to simulate recovery efforts as part of our emergency preparedness,” Pearson officials said in a post to social media.

Videos

“There are two methods we employ to recover an aircraft,” they continued:

• a crane is used to lift an aircraft that can’t be towed
• debogging — when the aircraft is pulled/towed off of soft surfaces back onto the runway

“Although it’s a rare occurrence, this training exercise shows we are ready to take action should such an incident occur. Our goal is to provide education around best practices that are required to recover an aircraft safely and expeditiously without causing harm.”

A crane is one way in which an aircraft that has left the runway can be brought back onto the tarmac. (Photo: Pearson Airport X)

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority, which runs Pearson, conducts a number of large-scale training exercises each year at Canada’s biggest and busiest airport.

During some of the drills, heavy smoke will appear in the sky above the airport as officials simulate a fire emergency. In other exercises, dozens of emergency vehicles, sirens blaring, can be seen racing across the tarmac to respond to a realistic “fake” emergency.

Firefighters, police officers and paramedics — in addition to other partners and numerous “extras” who play roles in different simulations — all participate in the airport’s various drills.

Among them is a full-scale disaster training session that takes place once a year and involves hundreds of volunteers playing different roles as part of a simulated plane crash or other emergency situation requiring a wide-ranging response.

The fire-specific drills are conducted by the Fire and Emergency Services Training Institute, a private college located on Courtneypark Drive East in Mississauga, just steps from Pearson.

FESTI is also part of the GTAA’s fire department, Pearson officials note. The emergency training organization has three fire stations and its own fire chief.

What’s left of an Air France Airbus lies in the Etobicoke Creek ravine after the aircraft overshot the runway and crashed at Pearson Airport on Aug. 2, 2005. Airport officials constantly run training drills to be able to respond effectively to such emergencies. (Photo: Wikipedia)