On Feb. 17, a Delta Air Lines plane made a crash landing at Toronto Pearson Airport.
Just after 2 p.m., Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 en route from Minneapolis crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, bursting into flames before flipping upside down on the runway. A video of the event was posted on social media. Additionally, it shows their emergency dismount from the overturned plane. A video captured from a passenger shows their emergency dismount from the overturned plane.
There were 76 passengers, 22 of whom are Canadian, and four crew members on board, all of whom managed to escape the plane once it had come to a stop. All passengers and crew were accounted for and there were no fatalities. 21 people were taken to the hospital, including a child. As of Feb. 18, 19 people were released, leaving only one remaining for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
One of the commanders with Peel Paramedics, Cory Tkatch, said most injuries included back sprains, head injuries, anxiety, headaches, nausea and vomiting due to the fuel exposure.
In a press conference, Deborah Flint, president and CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, took a moment to “recognize how grateful we are that there was no loss of life or life-threatening injuries.” She also recognized the airport’s emergency workers’ “textbook response, reaching the site within minutes and quickly evacuating the passengers.” The way the plane’s wing fell off was also the result of a safety feature. Although the wing caused the plane to flip upside down, the wing’s detachment successfully stopped the fuselage from ripping apart, which could have caused a much greater incident.
On the day of the crash, Toronto was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 51 km/h with gusting winds reaching 65 km/h. The snowstorm on the weekend of Feb. 15 and 16 brought more than 20 inches of snow, which Flint says is “more snow within that time window than we received in all of last winter.” As the plane prepared for landing, air traffic controllers advised the pilots of 61 km/h gusts as well as the possibility of a “slight bump in the glide path.”
No cause of crash has been announced as of writing, and investigations remain ongoing. One anonymous regional airline pilot cautioned against drawing any quick conclusions. Looking at pictures and videos of the incident, the pilot noted that the crashed jet showed its nose landing gear intact while its two other wheels and landing gear appeared to have been sheared off. This damage suggests the Delta Air Lines pilot was going sideways prior to losing control, either because of high winds, snow and ice on the runway, or a combination of both. The anonymous pilot noted that a broken wheel or frozen brake might also have been responsible for the crash landing.
Due to the winter storms the previous week, about 1,604 flights were cancelled between Feb. 13 and 16. Due in part to the accident, another 462 flights were cancelled on Feb. 17.
This crash marks North America’s fourth major aviation accident in the past three weeks: A commercial airplane and an army helicopter collided in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and one person on the ground. And on Feb. 6, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska. Unlike these other accidents, however, everyone survived the crash landing in Toronto.
On Feb. 19, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) began the cleanup of the mangled aircraft.
Delta Airlines said they are offering $30,000 to the passengers as compensation with “no strings attached.” Despite this, some of the survivors are considering legal action. Two passengers have hired a lawyer who specializes in aviation cases.
CBC has reported Delta’s care team is providing crash survivors with hotels, meals and transportation. In a statement, Delta Airlines said that “securing, identifying, sorting and cleaning all belongings left onboard could take a matter of weeks before all items can be safely returned.”
The plane’s black box was retrieved and sent off for analysis on Feb. 18. Investigators are pointing to the lack of flare technique and the wind conditions being the main culprits for the accident.