TORONTO -- They went from clapping with relief to screaming and scrambling to get out.

Passengers aboard the Air France flight that crashed and then burned in Toronto recounted Tuesday night the tense moments between the plane going down and their escapes before it was engulfed in flames.

Officials said all 309 people aboard Flight 358 jumped off the plane shortly before it burst into flames. More than 40 passengers were injured.

Toronto resident Gwen Dunlop said passengers started clapping when they believed they had landed safely in a strong storm, but then realized seconds later the plane was still moving and there was a problem.

Steve Shaw of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority said the Airbus A-340 overshot the runway by about 200 meters while trying to land during a thunder and lightning storm.

Dunlop said a flight attendant tried to tell them everything was OK, even as the plane was on fire and smoke was pouring in. She said the plane's staff didn't seem helpful or prepared.

Another passenger said there was no warning before the crash landing and that once the emergency chutes were deployed, the crew simply told everyone to jump.

Flames and billowing smoke could be seen coming from the aircraft, as it lay in the grass near Highway 401, Canada's busiest highway.

A passenger called the experience "really, really scary." Another passenger told Canada's CTV that he saw lightning strikes as the plane tried to land.

Witness 'Everything Looked Good

Shaw said the fire from the jet's wreckage was under control Tuesday evening.

Toronto radio reporter Leah Walker said she saw much of the jet turn into a fireball after it tried to land at the city's airport. She said she saw the plane try to land in "very fierce weather" -- with lightning, strong winds and even some hail in the area.

Another witness said "everything looked good" before the jet cracked in half.

Crash Reminiscent Of Another Disaster

Tuesday's crash was a reminder of a tragedy 20 years ago to the day at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.

An L-1011 flying from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., crashed at DFW while attempting to land during a thunderstorm.

The accident killed 137 people. More than two dozen passengers survived.

Wind shear was later blamed for the DFW crash, and is considered a possibility for that at Toronto.

North America's last major commercial jet crash came nearly four years ago, when an American Airlines jet plowed into a New York City neighborhood, killing 265 people, just two months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.