The Toronto Pearson International Airport's worst accident took place on July 5, 1970, when Air Canada Flight 621, a Douglas DC-8 registered CF-TIW, was flying on a Montreal-Toronto-Los Angeles route. July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Toronto Pearson International Airport, or Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International Airport (ICAO CYYZ, IATA YYZ), straddling Torontos western boundary with neighbouring Mississauga, is Canadas busiest airport and part of the National Airports System. ... July 5 is the 186th day of the year (187th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 179 days remaining. ... 1970 (MCMLXX) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1970 calendar). ... Air Canada Boeing 767-300 (C-GGFJ) in current livery. ... The Douglas DC-8 is a four-engined jet airliner, manufactured between 1959 and 1972. ... City motto: Concordia Salus (Latin: Well-being through harmony) Province Quebec Mayor Gérald Tremblay Area  - % water 366. ... Template:Hide = Motto: Template:Unhide = Diversity Our Strength Established: March 6, 1834 Area: East to West: 43 km North to South: 21 km629. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ...

The captain and first officer had flown on various flights together before, and had an ongoing discussion on when to engage the spoilers. They both agreed they did not like engaging them at the beginning of the final approach, fearing it could lead to an inadvertent spoiler activation. The captain preferred engaging them on the flare, whilst the copilot preferred extending them when the plane was on the ground. They made an agreement that, when the captain was piloting the aircraft, the first officer would arm the spoilers on the ground, as the first officer preferred, and when the first officer was piloting the aircraft, the captain would arm them on the flare as he preferred. Airbus A319 with fully deployed combined airbrakes and spoilers In aeronautics a spoiler (sometimes called a lift dumper) is a device intended to reduce lift in an aircraft. ...

On this particular instance however, the captain was piloting the landing and said, "All right. Give them to me on the flare. I have given up." This was not their usual routine. Sixty feet from the runway, the captain began to reduce power in preparation for the flare and said, "Okay" to the first officer. The first officer immediately engaged the spoilers. The aircraft began to sink heavily and the captain, realising what had happened, pulled back on the control column and applied full throttle to all four engines. The nose lifted, but the aircraft still continued to sink, hitting the runway with enough force that the number four engine and pylon broke off from the wing. Realising what he had done, the first officer began apologising to the captain. The aircraft eventually managed to lift off for a go-around, but the lost fourth engine had torn off a piece of the lower wing plating and the aircraft was now trailing fuel, which ignited. The first officer requested a second landing attempt on the same runway but was told it was closed due to debris and was directed to another runway. A go around, overshoot or missed approach is an aborted landing of an aircraft which is on final approach. ...

Two and a half minutes after the initial collision, the outboard of the right wing above where engine number four had been exploded, causing parts of the wing to break off. Six seconds after this explosion, another explosion occurred in the area of the number three engine, causing the pylon and engine to both break off and fall to the ground in flames. Six and a half seconds after the second explosion, another explosion occurred, destroying most of the right wing, including the wing tip. The aircraft then went into a violent nose dive, striking the ground at a high velocity and killing all 100 passengers and the nine crew members on board. The wing tip of a Quad City Challenger II, formed with an aluminum bow The wing tip of an American Aviation AA-1 Yankee, showing its Hoerner style design The wing tip is that part of the wing most distant from the fuselage of a fixed-wing aircraft. ...

External links

• Aviation Safety Network
• Cockpit voice recorder transcript
• Friends of Flight 621