Air France is suing the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) and air traffic controller NAV Canada over a serous passenger aircraft crash at Pearson International Airport in 2005.
In the lawsuit, Air France alleges the airport's newest runway lacks proper safety margins and falls short of international standards.
The airline is seeking C$180m, saying the authority cut corners that contributed to the crash of its Airbus A340 jet, the Toronto Star reports.
Flight 358, arriving from Paris, was battered by a violent thunderstorm just as it touched down on 2 August 2005.
Going too fast, it ran off the rain-slicked runway and into the ravine, where it broke apart and burst into flames.
All 297 passengers and 12 crew survived the accident but 33 people were taken to hospital – two crew members and ten passengers were admitted with serious injuries.
The design of Runway 24 Left – which ends at a steep ravine – failed to ensure there was an "adequate margin of safety for aircraft in the event of an overrun event," Air France says.
It also charges that the airport failed to install an apron of special concrete designed to quickly slow aircraft unable to stop on the runway.
The runway also lacks grooves to help carry away rainwater and improve braking.
The federal government says Air France knew that runway runoff areas "are not standard in Canada" and the airline has operated from Pearson for "many years" before the crash.
Officials with both the GTAA and Nav Canada have not commented on the suit.
By Elizabeth Clifford-Marsh
