CNN — Stiff winds blew over Canada’s Toronto Pearson Airport Monday afternoon as a slim aircraft, cleared by air traffic controllers to land, and its 80 passengers and crew drifted toward the snowy tarmac. But within moments, the plane had inexplicably crashed into the runway and overturned, sending fire crews scrambling to extinguish the rising flames.
According to report by CNN, all on board the Delta flight from Minneapolis survived the collision, but it is still unclear how the aircraft was upended, leaving it belly-up, streaked with black residue and shorn of a wing tip. Inside, seat-belted passengers were suspended from their seats.
At least 18 people were injured in the crash, airport Fire Chief Todd Aitken said. A child was among the injured, but is in good condition, the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto said.
The harrowing incident briefly halted traffic at Canada’s busiest airport and is certain to raise questions amid heightened flight safety concerns in the US. The crash comes less than three weeks after an American Airlines plane collided midair with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC, killing all 67 people aboard.
In Toronto, passengers evacuated the upside-down CRJ900 aircraft as first responders doused its fuselage with foamy fire retardant. Evacuees jumped several feet from the plane’s exit doors and stumbled across the slick tarmac clutching jackets and small carry-on bags.
Endeavor Air, a regional airline for Delta, operated the flight.
Canadian and American investigators will now work to determine what upended the plane. Here’s what we know about the moments leading up to and following the collision, pieced together by flight and weather data, video footage and witness accounts.
‘The aircraft is upside down and burning’
Delta flight 4819 departed Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on Monday and approached its destination at Toronto Pearson International Airport shortly before 3 p.m. local time, the airline said.
Strong winds had been buffeting Toronto all day and airport personnel had worked through the night to clear remnants of the approximately 8 inches of snow that blanketed the airport over the weekend.
As the plane neared the airport, air traffic controllers notified its pilots of about 38 mph wind gusts. “Might be a slight bump in the glide path,” the air traffic worker said. “There will be an aircraft in front of you.”
Within two minutes, the plane had flipped. Fire erupted as the aircraft tumbled, and the plane slammed into the runway, spitting out a huge fireball and leaving passengers hung aloft in their seats, according to passengers John Nelson and Peter Koukov.
Koukov said he “didn’t know anything was the matter” until the plane hit the ground and felt like it had turned sideways, he said on CNN’s “Erin Burnett Out Front.”
“When we got finished, I was upside down, everybody else was there as well,” Nelson said. “We tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.” He added that once he was out of the plane, there was another explosion but “luckily the firefighters got out of there.”
A medical helicopter flying nearby rerouted its path to assist with the crash. As the helicopter pilots approached, air traffic control workers warned them that people were out and walking around the aircraft, according to LiveATC audio.
“Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning,” the helicopter pilot responded.
‘We were … hanging like bats’
Fire engines raced onto the tarmac and began spraying thick sheets of white fire retardant over the aircraft’s battered fuselage. It’s unclear where the fire originated, but video shows the plane’s fiberglass frame had melted around the engine and thick black streaks stained its side.
After the aircraft came to a standstill, “we were upside down hanging like bats,” Koukov said. He was able to unbuckle himself and stand upright on the ceiling of the plane, but some people needed help getting down from their seats.
Geoff Robins/AFP/Getty Images
Nelson said the scene was chaotic as he and his seatmate released themselves from their belts and fell to the floor. People were yelling for them to get out of the plane and they made a beeline towards an opening, he said.
Flight attendants helped passengers crawl out of open exit doors, urging people to leave personal belongings behind, though some still exited with bags in tow, video from Koukov shows.
Evacuees jumped from the door frames onto the snow-covered ground as sprays of fire retardant rained overhead. People hugged themselves to protect them from the wind as they moved away from the plane, looking back at what they just endured.
While some people were injured, most seemed ok, Nelson said. But he was left stressed and shaky following the few seconds it took for the plane to turn over.
Canada’s busiest airport grinds to a halt
The crash prompted Toronto Pearson International to temporarily shut down all five of its runways Monday afternoon, causing delays at the country’s busiest airport and forcing several flights to divert to nearby airports.
A person is seen in front of sign boards listing delayed and canceled flights inside Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday.
More than 200 flights were canceled out of the airport by 4:15 local time, according to FlightRadar24. About 300 miles to the east, Quebec’s Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport prepared to receive diversion flights.
At around 5 p.m. local time, Toronto Pearson announced three of its runways would reopen to arriving and departing flights. The remaining two runways where the crash took place will stay closed for several days as investigators analyze the scene, airport CEO Deborah Flint said.
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