What we know about Air Canada ACA624 crash

On Sunday, Air Canada flight ACA624, an Airbus A320 aircraft, on a scheduled flight from Toronto's LesterB. Pearson International Airport, Ontario, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, collided with terrain approximately 1,100 feet from the threshold of Runway 5, eventually coming to rest about 1,100 feet down the runway. There were 133 passengers and five crew members on board; all of whom exited the aircraft. Twenty-five people were taken to hospital for treatment of injuries.

The initial impact was significant and caused substantial damage to the aircraft. The main landing gear separated and the underside of the aircraft was heavily damaged (fuselage and wings). During this impact, the aircraft collided with a localizer antenna array - part of the instrument landing system - and became airborne again, traveling forward on Runway 5. There is an extensive debris field between the localizer antenna location and the threshold of the runway.

The cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were recovered from the aircraft and have been sent to the TSB Engineering Laboratory in Ottawa, Ontario.

The investigation is ongoing and the next steps include the following:

• survey the impact and wreckage site.
• continue examining and photographing the wreckage.
• removing the aircraft from the runway to restore normal operations.
• gather Air Traffic Control voice and data recordings.
• conduct witness interviews.
• gather meteorological information.
• collect operational information from the aircraft.
• preliminary review of the recorders at the TSB Lab to assist field investigators.
• determine which wreckage to collect for closer examination.
• further examination will be at the TSB Lab Communication of safety deficiencies.