More than 300 people made a miracle escape after an Air France jet that witnesses said may have been hit by lightning skidded off a rainy Toronto runway, crashed into a ravine and burst into flames.

Panicked and screaming, passengers leapt down escape chutes before fire engulfed the demolished Airbus A-340, which had encountered heavy storms trying to land at Pearson Airport on Tuesday.

"Having almost 300 people, more than 300 people, come out of the plane before... it went on fire was a miracle," Canadian Transport Minister Jean Lapierre said.

Officials reported only 43 minor injuries from the 297 passengers and 12 crew on Flight 358 from Paris. The broken wreckage of the plane ended up in a ravine 200 metres off the runway.

Witnesses said they saw fireballs coming from the debris after the crash, and passengers told how they saw lightning flashes in the sky around them as the jet came in to land.

"It was raining hard... When we touched down a lot of people clapped their hands, but it was a little premature," said Gilles Medioni, a reporter for France's Express weekly who was on board.

"The pilot tried to put the brakes on but he never made it. Then the plane began to lurch and bump. People began to scream and sense the plane was about to crash," Medioni said.

"Everything was happening very quickly," Medioni said. "People got up from their seats. There was a smell of smoke, of kerosene and people looked for the emergency exits."

Another passenger, Olivier Dubois, told how passengers rushed to exit doors and jumped down escape chutes, with the plane already on fire.

"People were screaming and panicking... Everybody was jumping as fast as possible and running everywhere. Because the fear was that the plane would blow up at one point," he said.

Air France and emergency service officials said everyone had come out alive. Forty-three people were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries, Toronto Airport Authority official Steve Shaw told reporters.

Passengers told how the power on the jet went out about one minute before the landing and how they believed it was hit by lightning.

"I saw lightning," said Roel Bramar. "Maybe the plane had already been hit by lightning... just as we landed, the lights turned off. And that's unusual. So I'm sure that the bad weather was responsible."

Dubois said: "As soon as the plane stopped, they immediately opened the side of the plane where they couldn't see any flames, and then they told us to jump. And we all began jumping and running."

"We were running really fast... It was really, really scary."

Fire crews battled thick flames and black smoke for more than an hour after the crash.

In Paris, a French transport ministry spokesman said an inquiry with Canadian authorities would open yesterday local time.

Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta yesterday praised the crew for saving hundreds of lives.

"I want to pay homage to the crew," Spinetta said at a news conference at Air France headquarters. "I don't know if we should speak of a miracle... but above all the professionalism of the crew."

The four-engined Airbus jet has an excellent safety record. It was the first major accident involving an A-340, which has been in service since 1993.

Source: China Daily