A Delta Air Lines jet attempting to land at Toronto Pearson Airport amid strong winds and drifting snow crashed and flipped over on the tarmac Monday afternoon, finally coming to a rest with its belly up and with at least one wing shorn off.
Despite the crash landing, all 80 people aboard Flight 4819 from Minneapolis were evacuated.
Photos and video showed flames and black smoke billowing from the plane, and passengers coming out the front and rear doors. They walked away on the snow-covered tarmac as firefighters hosed down the aircraft.
At least 18 people were injured, according to Delta. They included one person with critical but not life-threatening injuries who was airlifted to a trauma center and a child who was in critical but non-life-threatening condition.
The others who were injured were taken to hospitals with minor to moderate injuries. Officials said that 22 of the passengers were Canadians. Pete Koukov, 28, a professional skier from Colorado who was on the flight, said that nothing seemed amiss during the plane’s final descent.
“The second that the wheels hit the ground, then everything happened,” Koukov said in an interview Monday night. “The next thing I know, we’re sideways.”
He said that the plane had skidded on its right side and that he had been sitting in a window seat on the left side.
“So you look down and you see sparks and flames on the side that’s touching the ground,” he said.
“We ended up completely upside-down. I unbuckled pretty fast and kind of lowered myself to the floor, which was the ceiling. People were panicking.”
The Bombardier CRJ900, operated by a Delta subsidiary, Endeavor Air, crashed about 2:45 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Delta later said that the crash occurred at 2:15 p.m.
The crash is likely to create aviation chaos for days to come in Canada. The airport, the country’s largest and busiest, was already reeling from delays and cancellations caused by a series of winter storms.
Investigation underway: The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will lead the investigation, officials said. The National Transportation Safety Board said it was leading a team of American investigators to assist Canadian authorities.
Weather at the airport: Strong winds were coming from the west at about 29 mph, with gusts of up to 38 mph, at the time of the crash, according to Environment Canada’s weather service.
It also reported drifting snow in Toronto, which, like much of Ontario, was hit with two snowstorms in the past few days.
Regional carrier: Endeavor Air, a wholly-owned Delta subsidiary, operates smaller planes on shorter routes for the airline. It operates 121 CRJ900s, configured with seats for 70 or 76 passengers.
CRJ900s have been in service around the world for more than two decades and have a solid safety record, according to data from Cirium, an aviation data company.
Series of accidents: The crash Monday has added to a spate of aviation accidents that have rattled travelers in recent weeks.
On Jan. 29, an American Airlines regional jet and an Army helicopter collided over the Potomac River, leaving no survivors. Two days later, a small medical plane crashed, killing all six on board and one person on the ground.
(Maimi Herald)
