Article: Pearson disaster was avoidable
Found in: The Toronto Star
Published: October 2, 2005

This article had particular relevance to me because it is about an event that happened back in my hometown, Toronto. In early August, an Air France plane landed in tumultuous weather - hard rain, lightning, thunder. It skidded off the runway and exploded in flames in a ditch by the highway. I was drawn to this article because I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when the incident took place. Aside from the personal significance, I found this article a very good piece of investigative reporting. It was able to explain to readers what happened to the plane, why it happened, and what could have been done to prevent it from happening. The article had detailed descriptions of the runways that could have prevented the plane from leaving the runway, as well as the history behind why Pearson airport did not have that type of runway. The details in this story demonstrate that the journalist dug through significant amounts of information to retrieve the information that was pertinent to the context of the story. By noting the different steps during the crash landing of the plane, the article allows the reader to experience the event, which personalizes the article for them. The article drew readers in through human interest; it had interviews with passengers from the flights and included those passenger's flashbacks and memories of the plane crash, which provided a vivid account of what was occurring inside the plane. Lastly, rather than ending the article after the crash, the journalist continues to follow the story and explains the impact of the crash on the relatives who were waiting in the airport and the effect the crash had on the passengers. This story was significant to me because it increases reader awareness about planes and their landing gears, airports and their runways, and calls for reform in the air industry.