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TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A Delta Air Lines aircraft flipped over during landing at Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada on Monday amidst windy weather after a snowstorm. As reported by Reuters on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, the incident injured 18 out of 80 people on board, according to officials.
Three individuals on the flight that departed from St. Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, United States, suffered severe injuries, including a child, authorities added.
US air carrier Delta Airlines stated that a CRJ900 aircraft operated by its subsidiary, Endeavour Air, was involved in the single-plane accident with 76 passengers and four crew members on board.
The 16-year-old CRJ900, manufactured by Canada's Bombardier and powered by GE Aerospace, can accommodate up to 90 people.
Canadian authorities mentioned that they are currently investigating the cause of the accident.
A passenger, John Nelson, posted a video on Facebook after the incident, showing firefighting vehicles spraying water on the upside-down aircraft on the snow-covered runway.
He later told CNN that there were no indications of anything unusual before landing.
"We touched the ground, and we were in a sideways position, and then we flipped over," Nelson told the television network.
"I was able to release my seatbelt and fell, then pushed myself to the ground. Then some people were kind of hanging and needed assistance to get down, and others could get down by themselves," he said.
Pearson Airport stated earlier on Monday that they were facing strong winds and extremely cold temperatures as airlines attempted to make up for flight delays. A weekend snowstorm resulted in over 22 cm of snow at the airport.
The Delta plane landed in Toronto on Monday at 14:13 local time after an 86-minute flight and came to a stop near the intersection of runway 23 and runway 15, according to flight tracking site FlightRadar24.
"The plane flipped over and caught fire," an emergency worker told the air traffic control tower after surveillance officers noted that some passengers were walking near the fallen aircraft, as per the incident recording posted on liveatc.net.
Deborah Flint, president of Toronto Airport, stated that the lack of fatalities was partly due to the first responders' efforts at the airport.
"We are very fortunate that there were no fatalities and relatively minor injuries," she said at a press conference.
Michael J. McCormick, a professor of air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, stated that the upside-down position made the accident quite unique.
"But the fact that 80 people survived an event like this is evidence of engineering and technology, the background of regulations that will be used to create a system where someone can survive something that not long ago could have been fatal," he said.
AIRPORT DELAYS
The 18 injured individuals were passengers and were taken to local hospitals, Delta stated in a release.
Of those injured, two were flown to trauma centers, and one child was taken to a children's hospital, stated Supervisor Lawrence Saindon of Peel Regional Paramedic Services.
Toronto Airport was closed for over two hours before departures and arrivals resumed. This caused flight delays and diversions to other airports including Montreal-Trudeau International Airport.
The airport's management in Montreal stated that they were preparing to receive several diverted flights, which may cause further delays.
Flint mentioned on Monday night that there would be some operational impacts and delays at Toronto Airport for the next few days as two runways were closed for investigation.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) stated that they have deployed an investigation team, and the US National Transportation Safety Board stated that their investigation team would assist TSB Canada.
Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which closed a deal to acquire the CRJ aircraft program from Bombardier in 2020, stated that they were aware of the incident and would fully cooperate in the investigation.
This aircraft accident in Canada follows other recent accidents in North America. A US Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with a CRJ-700 passenger jet in Washington, killing 67 people. Meanwhile, at least seven people were killed when a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, and 10 individuals died in a passenger aircraft accident in Alaska.
Editor's Note: The number of the injured in the title has been updated from 3 to 18.
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