All 80 Aboard Survive After Plane Flips Upside Down During Landing at Toronto Pearson Airport

A Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed on the afternoon of Feb. 17 at Toronto Pearson International Airport, leaving multiple people injured.

Airport authorities said 18 people were injured in the incident involving Delta Flight 4819. Paramedics said at least three people, including a child, were sent to hospital with more serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

There were no fatalities.

“First and foremost, there was no loss of life, and this is due in part to our heroic and trained professionals and first-responders at the airport,” Pearson Airport CEO Deborah Flint said at a press conference on Feb. 17. “At this time, we do not know of any of those passengers having critical injuries.”

Photos from the scene show the aircraft upside-down and heavily damaged on a snow-covered runway.

Pearson Airport said that all passengers and four crew members have been accounted for. Flint said of the 76 passengers on the flight, 22 were Canadian and the others were “multinational.”

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The airport authority said that departures and arrivals at the airport, initially suspended due to the incident, have returned to normal and that it expects to have some delays and operational impacts over the next few days as two runways remain closed for investigation.

Delta Air Lines said that the plane, a Bombardier/Mitsubishi CRJ900 aircraft operated by subsidiary Endeavor Air, originated from the Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport. The incident happened around 2:15 p.m. local time, the airline said.

“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement.

The airline said it has cancelled flights to and from the Pearson Airport for the remainder of the day and has issued travel waivers to impacted travellers.

An audio recording from the Pearson tower indicates that ahead of landing, pilots were warned of a possible air flow “bump” in the glide path from an aircraft ahead.

No official reason for the crash has been released so far.

Airport fire chief Todd Aitken said that it’s “really important that we do not speculate” about the cause of the crash.

“What we can say is the runway was dry and there was no crosswind conditions,” he said.

Transport Minister Anita Anand said she is “closely following” the incident. Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it is deploying a team to the airport to investigate.

“Passengers travelling across Canada today are advised to check the status of their flight before going to their airport due to traffic impacts from diverted flights,” Anand said.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration were also dispatched to Toronto to take part in the investigation, with the Canadian team taking the lead.

“I’ve been in touch with my counterpart in Canada to offer assistance and help with the investigation,” Duffy said.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said that he was relieved that there are no fatalities from the incident.

“Provincial officials are in contact with the airport and local authorities and will provide any help that’s needed,” Ford said.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow also said that she’s relieved that all passengers and crew are accounted for.

“Thank you to the first responders, crew and airport staff for their quick actions and commitment to keeping everyone safe,” Chow said.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he’s in touch with Delta about the incident.

“Grateful to the first responders and professionals on the scene,” he said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said his thoughts are with the injured.

“I’m in direct contact with our local airport officials as we continue to gather more information,” Frey said. “Thank you to the emergency crews who responded quickly to the scene.”

Michael Wing and The Canadian Press contributed to this report.