A Canadian judge has approved a class-action settlement worth 12 million Canadian dollars ($11 million) with 184 passengers of an Air France jet that overran a Toronto airport runway during a violent rainstorm four years ago, AP reported. Air France will pay CA$10 million ($9.5 million) plus interest into a settlement fund in exchange for the release of all claims arising from Flight 358. Flight 358 was en route from Paris when it encountered a severe thunderstorm as it touched down at Lester B. Pearson International Airport on Aug. 2, 2005. It ran off the rain-slicked runway and into a ravine, bursting into flames. About 60 passengers were forced to jump from the plane due to faulty or damaged evacuation slides. All passengers and 12 crew survived, but 33 were taken to hospitals. Airbus S.A.S., manufacturer of the A340 jet, and Goodrich Corp., maker of the emergency evacuation system and slides for the aircraft, will pay CA$1.65 million ($1.5 million) into the fund for a similar release of claims.
