Small Fire Sparked, Passengers Evacuated

Two aircraft collided on the tarmac at Pearson Airport in Toronto Friday night resulting in a small fire and the evacuation of nearly 170 passengers on one of the airplanes.

Reuters reports that an aircraft belonging to Sunwing Airlines under tow impacted a Westjet 737-800 which had just arrived at the airport and was waiting for a parking space at a gate, according to airport authorities. Westjet said there were unconfirmed reports of some "minor injuries" among the 168 passengers who were evacuated from its airliner. All were reported safe and accounted for.

Sunwing said there were no passengers or crew aboard its airliner at the time of the collision. It was being towed by ground handler Swissport International Ltd.

The collision caused a small fire, according to airport officials.

Swissport said in a statement emailed to Reuters that the incident occurred when one of its employees was pushing the Sunwing airliner back from the gate when the incident occurred. “The impact caused a small fire in the empty aircraft’s exterior generator, which was quickly extinguished by the Fire Department,” the statement said.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating the incident.

(Image from file)

FMI: Original Report