Delta plane crash: What we know after jet flips on Toronto runway
Delta Toronto plane crash update
A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while attempting to land at Toronto’s Pearson Airport. All 80 people on board survived. "We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries," Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority said.
TORONTO - A Delta Air Lines plane flipped upside down while landing on Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport with all 80 people on board surviving, officials said.
The flight from Minneapolis attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m. local time amid winds gusting to 40 mph.
Inside the Toronto plane crash: 'Put the phone away'
Video shared by Peter Koukov shows what it was like for passengers trying to get out of the upside-down crashed plane in Toronto.
Delta plane crash in Toronto
What we know:
The plane carrying 76 passengers and four crew members was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. The airport was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph gusting to 40 mph, according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. One passenger on board described the landing as "very forceful," but everyone on board survived the crash and was evacuated.
Emergency personnel reached the plane within a few minutes and Aitken said the response "went as planned." He added that "the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions."
Emergency personnel work at the scene of a Delta Airlines plane crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17, 2025, in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Katherine KY Cheng/Getty Images)
Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no further details on the crash. Video posted to social media showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.
Officials initially said 18 people were hurt. According to a Tuesday morning update from Delta, 21 passengers ended up hospitalized; 19 had been released.
What we don't know:
Communications between the tower and the pilot were normal on approach, and it was not immediately clear what went wrong when the plane touched down.
No fatalities after Delta plane crash landing in Toronto
Former pilots Rusty Aimer and Mike Coffield joins LiveNOW's Andrew Craft to break down what happened in Toronto after a Delta plane crash-landed at an airport, injuring several people.
Big picture view:
The Delta plane crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in the past three weeks. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport 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 another person on the ground. On Feb. 6, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska.
The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 landing from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames amid stormy weather, according to the Associated Press. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived the crash.
From video by Peter Koukov
What they're saying:
"All the 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," Peter Carlson, a passenger traveling to Toronto for a paramedics conference, told CBC News of the crash.
Carlson said when he took off his seat belt he crashed onto the ceiling, which had become the floor. He smelled gas, saw aviation fuel cascading down the cabin windows and knew he needed to get out but said his fatherly intuition and paramedic skills kicked in. He looked for those he could help.
From video by Peter Koukov
Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her young son out of the plane and then Carlson dropped onto the tarmac. Snow was blowing and it "felt like I was stepping onto tundra."
"I didn’t care how cold it was, didn’t care how far I had to walk, how long I had to stand — all of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft," he said.
Meanwhile, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that "the hearts, thoughts and prayers of the entire Delta community" are with the victims.
"We are grateful for all the first responders and medical teams who have been caring for them."
Delta jet flips, all 80 passengers survive
While landing at Toronto's Pearson Airport Monday, a Delta Air Lines jet flipped. All 80 passengers on board survived and those hurt had minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said. FOX 5 Atlanta's Marc Teichner joined LiveNOW from FOX with the latest.
Dig deeper:
Audio recordings show the control tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow "bump" on the approach.
"It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path," said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.
"So it was windy. But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that," Cox said. "The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that."
What's next:
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it was sending a team to assist in the Canadian investigation.
The Source: This story was reported using information provided by the Federal Aviation Administration, Delta Air Lines, Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken and other Canadian authorities, and the Meteorological Service of Canada. It was reported from Cincinnati, and the Associated Press contributed.