— A plane from Minneapolis crashed Monday afternoon in Toronto, apparently coming to a rest upside down in an incident that left at least 19 injured, including a child.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Delta Air Lines Flight 4819, a CRJ-900 operated by Endeavor Air, crashed around 2:15 p.m. local time while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, according to authorities. All 80 people on board were evacuated, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two adults with critical injuries to other hospitals in the city.
Video from the scene circulating on social media showed the plane appeared to have landed upside down.
“We’re in Toronto,” said the person who filmed the video. “We just landed. Our plane crashed. It’s upside down. Fire department’s on site … Most people appear to be OK.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be in charge of the investigation, according to the FAA.
Delta in a prepared statement referred to the crash as “a single-aircraft accident”
“Initial reports were that there are no fatalities,” the airline said. “Several customers with injuries were transported to area hospitals. Our primary focus is taking care of those impacted.”
It is too early to say what caused the plane to flip but weather may have played a factor. According to the Meteorological Service of Canada, the airport was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph gusting to 40 mph. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
An audio recording from the tower at Toronto Pearson International Airport shows the flight was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. local time. The tower warns the pilots of a possible air flow bump in the glide path as the plane comes into land because of a preceding aircraft in front of it.
“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a prepared statement. “I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site.”
Endeavor Air, the company that operated the jet, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines headquartered in Minneapolis, according to Delta.
“I’m relieved there are no casualties after the incident at Toronto Pearson,” Doug Ford, premier of Ontario, said in a social media post. “Provincial officials are in contact with the airport and local authorities and will provide any help that’s needed.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has been in touch with Delta about the crash.
Flights at Pearson, which handles more passengers than any other Canadian airport, were grounded for around two and half hours. Delta cancelled its flights to and from Pearson for the remainder of the evening and issued a travel waiver.
Monday’s crash is at least the fourth major aviation mishap in North America in the past month. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near the nation’s capital on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground and 10 were killed in a plane crash in Alaska.
