Airport officials in Toronto confirmed that both black box recorders have been recovered from the Air France jet that overshot a runway and caught fire Tuesday. Initial findings by aviation investigators show that thunderstorms in the area may not have been the primary cause of the accident. The 309 passengers and crew aboard the plane escaped without any fatalities (and only about two dozen injuries), and many of the passengers credited the Air France flight crew with quick thinking in evacuating them before the plane was engulfed in flames. It’s reported that the captain waited until all passengers had left the plane before he evacuated himself.

Prepare for a strike at Northwest Airlines this month, as talks ended yesterday between airline managers and the mechanics union. The mechanics have legal authority to strike after midnight on Saturday, Aug. 20, if no deal is reached, but Northwest officials have promised to continue flying even in the face of a strike. To add weight to public concerns about a strike, the mechanics union claims that any replacement workers hired by Northwest will not be familiar with the aging planes in the airline’s fleet. In other Northwest news, the airline’s flight attendants said yesterday that they’ve asked the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate Northwest’s plans to replace them if they follow the mechanics in their strike.

Air France officials found the body of a boy in the wheel bay of one of its planes when the flight arrived in Paris from Canada Tuesday. Police found currency from the African nation of Guinea in the boy’s pockets, but there were no other forms of identity. They believe the boy climbed into the plane during a stopover in the Congo on July 30.

Air Tahiti Nui will pay agents 14 percent uncapped commission on all newly booked airfares from New York/Kennedy and Los Angeles to Tahiti, Sydney, or Auckland (tickets booked by Sept. 30 for travel through Dec. 31). Also, you can claim one free economy class ticket to Tahiti when you sell five tickets from New York/Kennedy to Tahiti or Sydney by Oct. 15.