A Delta Airlines plane flipped upon arrival at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, Canada, on Monday (local time), landing upside down and injuring 17 people. The aircraft, which arrived from Minneapolis, carried 76 passengers and four crew members.
The Endeavor Air flight 4819 with 80 people on board was landing in the afternoon in Canada’s biggest metropolis, having flown from Minneapolis in the US state of Minnesota, the airline said.
A video footage of the incident on social media showed passengers walking on the ceiling to escape the overturned jet.
A flight attendant was heard saying, “Don’t take a video. Put that phone away.” Emergency workers arrived at the scene as the aircraft lay upside down on the tarmac, partially covered in snow from a winter storm over the weekend.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority confirmed the incident happened at around 2:15 pm. Airport operations were temporarily halted for about two and a half hours. Two runways remain closed for investigation.
Ornge air ambulance reported transporting one child to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals.
Air traffic controllers were heard discussing the situation with a medical helicopter crew. The plane came to rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, near the start of the runway. “Just so you’re aware, there’s people outside walking around the aircraft there,” a controller said. The helicopter pilot responded, “Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning.”
It is unclear what caused the plane to flip, but weather conditions may have been a factor. The Meteorological Service of Canada reported blowing snow and wind speeds of 32 mph (51 kph), with gusts up to 40 mph (65 kph). The temperature at the time was 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8.6 degrees Celsius).
Airport fire chief Todd Aitken said it wasn’t appropriate to comment on the investigation into the crash at Toronto Pearson Airport, he did give an update on the conditions of the runway, CNN reported. “What we can say is the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions,” Aitken said.
Greater Toronto Airports Authority CEO Deborah Flint said, “We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries.” The number of reported injuries was revised from an earlier count of 19.
