BEIJING, Aug. 5 -- Investigators Wednesday searching the wreckage of the Airbus A340 found the flight data and voice recorders, the so-called ¡°black boxes,¡± said Steve Shaw, spokesman for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

    Officials hope the recorders will provide clues to what caused the aircraft to skid off a runway Tuesday at Lester B. Pearson International Airport and burst into flames.

    All 309 passengers and crew escaped alive in an evacuation that took less than two minutes. Air France said 22 people were injured, while airport officials said 43 were hurt. The wreckage of the jetliner, torn into three pieces, still smoldered Wednesday.

    Brian Lackey, vice president of operations for the Greater Toronto Airport Authority, said Wednesday the jetliner had enough fuel to divert to Montreal or another airport where the weather was better, but ¡°that¡¯s the pilot¡¯s decision.¡±

    The airport was under a ¡°red alert,¡± which indicates potential for lightning but does not prevent planes from landing or taking off, officials said.

    Real Levasseur, lead investigator for Canada¡¯s Transportation Safety Board, said the decision to land during a ¡°red alert¡± would be investigated.

    Levasseur said the black boxes were in relatively good condition. ¡°There is some fire damage to them, but we should be able to recover the information.¡±

    Lackey said airport workers were struck by the severity of the storm. ¡°As we were looking out the window we were commenting that storm was extremely severe,¡± he said. ¡°Normally if there are thunderstorms in the area, a pilot may decide to circle until it¡¯s safe to land.¡±

    Airport Fire Chief Mike Figliola said three-quarters of the passengers and crew managed to escape in the 52 seconds it took for emergency crews to arrive. ¡°The crew did a great job, they¡¯re trained to get the people off,¡± Figliola said.

    At Air France headquarters in Roissy, France, airline chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta also praised the flight crew. ¡°I don¡¯t know if we should speak of a miracle ... but above all the professionalism of the crew,¡± Spinetta said.

    
(Source: Shenzhen Daily/Agencies)