Delta Air Lines reported that 19 of the 21 passengers taken to local hospitals following a plane crash yesterday in Toronto have been discharged, as authorities continue their investigation into why the regional jet flipped over during landing.
The investigation is being led by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), which is examining the reasons behind the CRJ900 aircraft operated by Delta Air Lines’ Endeavor Air subsidiary overturning at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Details surrounding Flight DL4819 from Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport remain unclear, as air crashes typically arise from multiple contributing factors.
The 16-year-old CRJ900, manufactured by Canada’s Bombardier and equipped with GE Aerospace engines, has the capacity to seat up to 90 passengers. Video footage taken after the incident showed that at least one of the two wings was detached from the aircraft.
The Delta flight landed in Toronto at 2:13 PM local time after an 86-minute journey and came to a stop near the intersection of runway 23 and runway 15, according to FlightRadar24 data.
Weather conditions during the incident were characterized by “gusting crosswind and blowing snow,” as indicated by the flight tracking site.
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Canadian officials announced they would investigate the cause of the crash, which has yet to be determined.
Passenger John Nelson shared a video on Facebook showcasing the aftermath, featuring a fire engine spraying the plane that was overturned on the snow-covered tarmac.
He later informed CNN that there were no signs of anything unusual prior to landing.
“We hit the ground, and we were sideways, and then we were upside down,” Nelson recounted to the news network.
“I managed to unbuckle and kind of fall and push myself to the ground. Some individuals were hanging and required assistance getting down, while others managed to get down unaided,” he explained.
The Delta Airlines plane rests on its roof after crashing during landing in Toronto.
Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken stated the runway was dry and there were no crosswind conditions, although several pilots interviewed by Reuters, who reviewed video of the incident, disputed this assertion.
US aviation safety expert and pilot John Cox indicated that there was an average crosswind of 19 knots from the right during the landing, noting that this was just an average, with gusts fluctuating.
“It’s gusty, so the pilots must continually make adjustments to airspeed, vertical profile, and lateral profile,” he said, adding, “this is normal for professional pilots.”
According to Cox, investigators will seek to understand why the right wing separated from the aircraft.
Michael J. McCormick, an associate professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, pointed out that the inverted position of the Toronto crash made it quite unusual.
“However, the survival of 80 people in such an event highlights the advancements in engineering and technology, as well as the regulatory framework that enables a system where individuals can survive incidents that would have been fatal not too long ago,” he remarked.
There have been three previous occurrences of planes flipping over during landing, specifically involving McDonnell Douglas’s MD-11 model. In 2009, a FedEx freighter overturned on landing at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, resulting in the deaths of both pilots. In 1999, a China Airlines flight flipped in Hong Kong, killing three of the 315 occupants. In 1997, another FedEx freighter flipped at Newark with no fatalities.
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Airport delays
Flights have resumed at Toronto Pearson, but airport president Deborah Flint indicated there would be operational impacts and delays in the coming days as two runways remain closed for the investigation.
She credited the absence of fatalities partly to the prompt actions of first responders at the airport.
“We are incredibly thankful that there were no fatalities and only relatively minor injuries,” she stated during a press conference.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) announced the deployment of a team of investigators, with the US National Transportation Safety Board also offering assistance to Canada’s TSB.
Global aviation regulations mandate that a preliminary investigation report be released within 30 days of an accident.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which finalized the acquisition of the CRJ aircraft program from Bombardier in 2020, acknowledged the incident and pledged full cooperation with the investigation.
The crash follows a series of recent aviation incidents in North America, including a mid-air collision involving a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington that claimed 67 lives, as well as a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia that resulted in seven fatalities.
