Air France chairman held news conference on 'miraculace' Toronto crash

Air France Chairman Jean-Cyril Spinetta held a news conference to assess the crash landing of a jetliner in Canadian Pearson Airport that burst into flames but claimed no victims.

Spinetta was scheduled to speak at 11:30 a.m. (0930GMT) at Air France's headquarters at Charles de Gaulle airport, a day after the crash that marked the first for an Airbus A340 in its 13 years of commercial service.

French newspapers hailed the happy ending of the crash in Toronto.

"The miracle of the Air France Airbus," read the front page of Le Parisien daily.

All 309 people aboard Air France Flight 358 evacuated the plane moments before it burst into flames after skidding off a runway at Lester B. Pearson International Airport on Tuesday. Some 43 passengers suffered minor injuries, the AP.