At least 15 people were injured Monday after Delta Air Lines appeared to have been overturned when it landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
The footage posted on social media and broadcast from the airport showed surreal scenes. The plane was completely upside down as paramedics evacuated passengers and attended the crash scene.
“We just landed. The plane crashed. It’s upside down,” John Nelson said, walking away from the plane. He said “most people think it’s okay,” and that passengers are off the plane.
All passengers and crew members have been described, the airport said in a social media post.
The 12 injured people suffered minor injuries and were transported to the ground for medical appointments, said Lawrence Saidin, superintendent of Peel Regional Emergency Medical Services.
The other two were in crisis and were airlifted to a nearby trauma centre, Saidin said.
According to Joshua McNamara, one of them was a man from the 60s and was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. This is led by corporate communications with Toronto Air Ambulance. The other is a woman in her 40s who is taken to the Sunny Brook Health Science Centre in Toronto.
Saindon said the child among the injured, a child, had been taken to hospital for a sick child in Toronto, McNamara added.
The severity of the other injuries was unknown, but Delta said there were no deaths.
The Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that Delta Line Flight 4819 was operated by Endeavour Airlines and arrived from Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport crashed while landing in Toronto around 2:45pm.
According to the FAA, a total of 80 people on the CRJ-900 were on the plane. Delta said it had 76 passengers and four crew members on board.
Toronto Pearson is a ground stop “due to an aircraft emergency” and “due to an aircraft emergency” according to FAA’s National Airspace System status.
Snow was blowing all day at Toronto Airport. There was snow falling early that day due to the lake effect, but no snow was reported during the accident or snow fell on the radar.
At the time of the collision there was a 20-30 mph wind, with gusts of wind up to 40 mph.
The temperature was 18 degrees and the weathering temperature was -2 as passengers were evacuating from the jet.
The Association of Light Attentants Union, which posted on social media that it was responding to events, said some of its crew were working on the flight.
According to the FAA, the Canada Road Safety Board will investigate the incident. TSB said in a post from X that it is deploying its team to investigate the incident.
The National Transportation Safety Board said it will support Canada’s TSB in its investigation.
Transport Secretary Sean Duffy said FAA investigators are on their way to Toronto and are in touch with his Canadian counterparts to help with the investigation.
Jesse Rodriguez, Jay Blackman and Bill Cullins contributed.
