TORONTO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - An Air France <AIRF.PA> jet that crashed at Toronto's international airport in August 2005 came in too high and too fast, and ran out of space on a slippery runway, Canadian officials said on Tuesday.

The Canadian Transportation Safety Board said it would release on Dec. 12 its final investigation report into the accident, in which an Airbus A340 caught fire after overshooting the runway during a thunderstorm.

The statement announcing the release of the report made clear that the weather almost certainly played a role in the crash.

"The aircraft approached Toronto in a severe and rapidly changing thunderstorm with shifting winds and limited visibility," the safety board's statement said.

"It came in too high and too fast and touched down almost halfway down the 9,000-foot runway. A combination of a wet and slippery runway and crosswinds meant the aircraft simply ran out of room."

The plane, arriving from Paris, had 297 passengers and 12 crew members on board. All escaped down emergency chutes and nobody died. All that remained of the plane was a charred and twisted mess. (Reporting by Janet Guttsman; Editing by Peter Galloway)

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