The black box from the plane that crashed at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17 has been recovered by investigators.
The plane’s cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have now been sent to a lab for further analysis, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which is leading the investigation into the incident, said on Feb. 18.
Delta flight 4819, operated by subsidiary Endeavor Air, was arriving from Minneapolis when it crashed while landing at Pearson Airport just after 2 p.m. EST.
“Following this initial impact, parts of the aircraft separated and a fire ensued,” Transportation Safety Board Senior Investigator Ken Webster said in an update on Feb. 18. “The fuselage came to rest slightly off the right side of the runway, upside down, facing the other direction.”
Here’s what is known about the crash up to this point.
Who Was on Board and Who Was Injured?
All 76 passengers and four crew members were able to escape after the plane overturned, according to Greater Toronto Airports Authority CEO Deborah Flint. Twenty-two of the people onboard the flight were Canadian.
The majority of passengers emerged from the wreckage unscathed, but Delta Airlines said 21 individuals were injured and taken to hospital. Nineteen of the passengers had been released as of the morning of Feb. 18, the airline said in a statement.
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Flint told reporters during a Feb. 18 afternoon press conference that the two patients who remain in hospital have non-life threatening injuries, but refrained from giving further details.
“It’s really important to recognize how grateful we are that there was no loss of life or life-threatening injuries in yesterday’s accident,” she said.
Delta also has not released details on the conditions of the patients.
“Our most pressing priority remains taking care of all customers and Endeavor crew members who were involved,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in the statement. “We are grateful for all the first responders and medical teams who have been caring for them.”
Was Weather a Factor?
Pearson Airport recorded an accumulation of 50 centimetres of snow over the long weekend after two consecutive winter storms hit Toronto.
“From last Thursday to Sunday, Pearson saw extreme conditions,” Flint said, adding that the amount of snow received was a rare occurrence.
“In fact, it is more snow within that time window than we received in all of last winter.”
The weather not only caused flight delays over the course of the weekend but left airport employees with a massive clean-up.
A social media post by the airport early Feb. 17 said the airfield team “continued their work throughout the night to clear critical areas so planes can safely arrive and depart.”
GTAA fire chief Todd Aitken told reporters at a Feb. 17 media briefing that the runway conditions were dry and there were no crosswinds at the time of the landing, although passengers onboard reported gusty winds and snow blown over the runway as the plane was descending.
An audio recording from the air traffic control tower at Pearson indicates the pilots were warned about a potential air flow “bump” in the glide path caused by an aircraft in front of them when they received clearance to land just after 2 p.m. EST.
Flint was questioned about the condition of the runway and if wind gusts played a role in the plane’s crash, but she declined to comment while the investigation is underway.
“This would not be a time for us to have a theory or to speculate on what caused the crash,” she told reporters.
What Happened?
Video footage of the landing shows the plane hitting the runway hard and flames shooting into the air before the aircraft skidded onto its side and then overturned. Photos of the upended aircraft show one wing sheared off and the landing gear pointing skyward.
Passengers, who were buckled into their seats, were left dangling upside down before taking off their seat belts to drop down to the ceiling of the plane. Video footage shows flight crew and emergency responders quickly ushering passengers off the plane through both of its doors.
“The crew of Delta flight 4819 heroically led passengers to safety evacuating a jet that had overturned on the runway, on landing amidst smoke and fire,” Flint said. “I thank each and every one of these heroes, every flight attendant and crew member on Delta flight 4819.”
Flight crews and airport emergency workers and responders “mounted a textbook response,” reaching the site within minutes of the crash, she added. They were also on-hand to aid in the evacuation and transport of the injured to hospital.
Who Is Investigating?
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation, assisted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, Delta’s incident response team, and Mitsubishi, the maker of the CRJ900 aircraft (originally made by Bombardier).
Seven members of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada arrived at the airport on Feb.17 to begin the investigation and 13 more investigators arrived on-site on Feb. 18, Flint said. FAA investigators are also at the scene of the crash today.
“We do expect that the investigators on site will be reviewing the aircraft on its current configuration on the runway for the next 48 hours,” Flint said, noting that more information on the cause of the crash will be released as the investigation unfolds.
The Transportation Safety Board said it is examining the runway and the wreckage on site, and has sent the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder to a lab for further analysis.
“At this point, it’s far too early to say what the cause of this accident might be,” said Webster.
Are There Ongoing Delays?
The probe into the Feb. 17 crash has resulted in the closure of two runways. The damaged aircraft will not be moved from the runway until investigators are finished on the scene, Flint said.
Once that portion of the probe is complete, the GTAA will do its inspections “and then return that runway into service,” she added.
Until that time, travellers can expect flight delays and cancellations. Pearson is urging passengers to check their flight status before arriving at the airport.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
