Plane with 80 onboard flips over at Toronto airport, 18 injured

Photo: Reuters

A Delta Air Lines plane with 80 people on board crash-landed at Toronto’s main airport on Monday afternoon. The plane, Endeavor Air Flight 4819, had 76 passengers and 4 crew members on board. It was coming from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and was trying to land when it flipped over on the runway. Thankfully, there were no deaths, but at least 18 people were injured.

The cause of the accident is still unclear, and airport officials are not speculating about what went wrong. Todd Aitken, the airport’s fire chief, confirmed that the runway was dry and there was no crosswind, which are important factors for a safe landing.

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Among the injured, three were critically hurt. This included a child, a man in his 60s, and a woman in her 40s. Emergency services quickly took all the injured, including those with minor injuries, to nearby hospitals. Some were transported by ambulance, while others were flown in helicopters.

Dramatic footage from local news stations and shared on social media showed passengers climbing out of the upside-down plane. The plane had been flipped over, and passengers could be seen struggling against strong winds and blowing snow. Firefighters worked hard to put out smoke coming from the aircraft as the evacuation continued.

Deborah Flint, the CEO of the airport, praised the emergency teams for their quick and heroic actions, saying they reached the site within minutes. Some passengers were already reunited with their families after being evacuated.

The airport had to cancel all flights for a few hours after the crash. It reopened the runways around 5 p.m. local time but warned passengers to expect long delays.
John Nelson, a passenger on the flight, posted a video on Facebook showing the overturned plane. In the video, he said, “Our plane crashed. It’s upside down,” but reassured viewers that most people seemed to be okay, and everyone was safely exiting the plane.

Delta Airlines, which operates the flight through its subsidiary Endeavor Air, confirmed the incident. The airline issued a statement saying that initial reports showed there were no fatalities. Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, expressed his concern, saying, "The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport."

A massive snowstorm had hit eastern Canada the day before, and even though the snow had stopped by Monday, strong winds and freezing temperatures still made the conditions tough. The airport had also been busy, with over 130,000 travelers expected to fly on about 1,000 flights that day.

Transport Minister Anita Anand confirmed that there were 80 people on the flight and said she was closely following the situation. Ontario Premier Doug Ford shared his relief, saying he was “relieved there are no casualties after the incident.”

The crash has raised concerns following other recent air incidents, including a deadly mid-air collision in Washington and a medical plane crash in Philadelphia. In response to the crash, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada sent a team of investigators to the scene. They will be working alongside a team from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to figure out what happened.

This incident is still under investigation, and officials are working hard to gather more details.