Delta plane upside-down after Toronto crash; all passengers 'accounted for'
No fatalities in Delta crash at Toronto airport
In an update Monday, officials said there were no fatalities after a Delta plane crashed at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Of the 80 people on board, more than a dozen were injured.
TORONTO - A Delta Air Lines plane was involved in a crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada on Monday around 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
Footage shared by Canada's CTV television network showed the plane upside-down with first responders spraying water on the aircraft.
"Toronto Pearson is aware of an incident upon landing involving a Delta Airlines plane arriving from Minneapolis," the airport said in a tweet. "Emergency teams are responding. All passengers and crew are accounted for."
Toronto plane crash
What we know:
The airline said Delta Connection flight 4819 was involved in the crash.
The crash involved a Delta Air Lines CRJ-900. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a statement on Monday stating that the crash took place while the aircraft was landing.
Eighty people were on board at the time, and all were immediately evacuated. At least 17 people were injured, according to paramedics.
In a news conference, airport authorities said 22 of the passengers were Canadian with the remaining from different nationalities.
The FAA also said that the flight was operated by Endeavor Air.
"Initial reports were that there are no fatalities," the airline said in a statement to FOX Television Stations. "Several customers with injuries were transported to area hospitals. Our primary focus is taking care of those impacted."
Delta Airlines crash in Toronto leaves plane upside-down
A Delta Airlines plane was spotted upside-down after a crash in Toronto. Toronto Pearson said in a statement, "Toronto Pearson is aware of an incident upon landing involving a Delta Airlines plane arriving from Minneapolis. Emergency teams are responding. All passengers and crew are accounted for."
Tower controllers were heard speaking with the crew of a medical helicopter that had just left Pearson and was returning to help with the crash. The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, the controller said. That’s not far from the start of the runway.
"Just so you’re aware, there’s people outside walking around the aircraft there," a tower controller said.
"Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning," the medical helicopter pilot responded.
What we don't know:
It's not yet clear how badly hurt the passengers and crew might be.
And while it is not yet known if weather played a role in the crash, the incident happened as extreme cold and wintry conditions unfolded across the northern tier of the U.S. and in Canada. Winds were gusting to about 40 mph at the time of the crash, FOX Weather reported.
No snow was falling at the time, but the gusty winds were blowing around the more than 8 inches of snow that fell at the airport over the weekend.
A Delta Air Lines flight arriving from Minneapolis crashed and flipped over upon landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada on Monday, February 17 (Credit: Mark Fitzpatrick via Storyful)
What they're saying:
"Delta is aware of reports of Endeavor Flight 4819 operating from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Toronto-Pearson International Airport as involved in an incident," Delta said in a statement. "We are working to confirm any details and will share the most current information on news.delta.com as soon as it becomes available."
Dig deeper:
Monday's incident is just the latest in a string of aviation incidents that has gripped the U.S. over the past several weeks.
Last month, an American Airlines jet with 60 passengers and four crew members aboard collided with an Army helicopter while coming in for a landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. There were no survivors.
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A few days later, a medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood shortly after takeoff, exploding in a fireball that engulfed several homes.
Last week, two crew members ejected from a Navy jet before it crashed off the San Diego coast and were quickly rescued by a sportfishing boat.
Two people were killed when a single-engine plane crashed shortly after takeoff late over the weekend from a small airport east of Atlanta.
The backstory:
Endeavor Air, based in Minneapolis, is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and the world’s largest operator of CRJ-900 aircraft. The airline operates 130 regional jets on 700 daily flights to over 126 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, according to the company’s website.
The CRJ900, a popular regional jet, was developed by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier. It’s in the same family of aircraft as the CRJ700, the type of plane involved in the midair collision near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29.
The Source: The Asssociated Press contributed to this report. The information in the story came from several sources: Toronto Pearson International Airport, which confirmed the incident and stated that all passengers and crew were accounted for via a tweet; CTV News, which reported that up to eight people were injured and that airport operations were suspended, based on input from paramedics and airport workers; FOX Weather, and FOX Television Stations, which reached out to Delta Airlines for comment, but did not receive a response or additional details. This story was reported from Los Angeles.