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Crash, fireball, flip: New video shows Delta Airlines' eventful landing
A Delta Airlines jet flipped onto its roof during a crash landing at Toronto's Pearson Airport. Despite severe weather, all 80 passengers survived.
A Delta Airlines jet carrying 80 people, including 76 passengers and four crew members, was involved in a dramatic crash landing at Toronto's Pearson Airport on Monday afternoon. The plane, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR, flipped onto its roof while attempting to land at around 2.15 pm. All passengers survived, though 18 were hospitalized with minor injuries, according to airport officials.
The flight, which had departed from Minneapolis, encountered severe weather conditions as snow, driven by winds gusting up to 40 mph (65 kph), swirled across the runway. Despite normal communications between the pilot and air traffic control during the plane's approach, something went wrong when the aircraft touched down, sending it careening off course.
A video, which has gone viral on social media, shows the moment the flight landed and the impact and flip that followed.
Passengers recount horror
Peter Carlson, a passenger heading to Toronto for a paramedics conference, described the landing as “very forceful.” He recalled the moment: "All of a sudden, everything just kind of went sideways, and then next thing I know, it’s kind of a blink and I’m upside down, still strapped in."
Carlson and other passengers assisted in helping those nearby, including a mother and her young son, out of the plane. He described the snow-covered tarmac as “feeling like tundra,” but said he and his fellow passengers were more concerned about getting to safety than the freezing conditions.
Deborah Flint, CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, expressed gratitude that no deaths occurred, emphasizing that the injuries sustained were relatively minor. "We are very grateful there was no loss of life," she told reporters.
Aviation accidents on the rise
The crash is the latest in a series of significant aviation incidents in North America. Just weeks before, a deadly helicopter crash in Washington D.C., a plane crash in Philadelphia, and an Alaskan crash left dozens dead. The last major incident at Pearson was in 2005, when an Airbus A340 from Paris skidded off the runway and caught fire, though no fatalities occurred at the time.
