Mayhem at Toronto Airport August 3rd, 2005
After
many hours of confusion, we are safe and sound in the apartment at the AIM
headquarters in Toronto. It was supposed to be a routine flight to
Toronto to join with British Airways to London. It turned out to be
anything but routine.
We landed in
Toronto half an hour late after flying around bad weather. After we
landed they told us that we would have to wait in a parking area for a
while as the airport had shut down ground operations due to
thunderstorms in the area. Everyone was disappointed that we
would have to sit for an extra half hour on the pavement before we
went to a gate. Half an hour turned into an hour, an hour turned
into an hour and a half. Passengers were getting restless
cramped into a small regional jet. It was then that we smelled
smoke and noticed billowing black smoke coming from behind another
parked airplane.
During the
thunderstorm, an Air France plane run off the end of the runway before
bursting into flames. It took a while for the news to
circulate
around the plane. It was hours later that we found out that all 300 people
on the plane were able to escape. Concern about
connecting
flights faded as the realization of the event grew. Some people on our flight
still managed to complain about the delay,
hunger, lack of
room, and their inconvenience, but in general people handled the
situation calmly.
After five
hours parked on the pavement, they towed some empty planes away from the
gates to allow us to get off. I was able to call my father and
ask him to get me some phone numbers for contacts in Toronto. John
Brown, the director for AIM Canada had come out to the airport to meet
us for a few minutes between flights. His few minutes turned into
hours, but we were able to call him and keep in contact until our
luggage came out two hours later. He had verified with British Airways
that our flight was not leaving Tuesday night.
It happened
that the apartment in the AIM office was empty. He brought us back to
the apartment, ordered us pizza for a late supper (after skipping
lunch) and let us relax. Although we are between homes, we feel that
we have family here looking after us.
Despite the
tragedy and confusion of the day, God has blessed us with caring hands.
We'll find out
later today what will happen, but this day made us realize how much
bigger the world is than us.
Michael and
Bernadine, Evan and Julianne
(Written at
AIM, 1641 Victoria Park Avenue, Scarborough, ON)