Footage reveals incredible moments plane flips onto its roof
Footage has emerged of the dramatic moment an incoming passenger plane with 80 people on board flipped onto its roof at a Canadian airport.
The video captures the Delta Air Lines plane coming in to land at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport against a snowy backdrop.
It shows the aircraft touching down and tipping onto its right side.
The jet skids across the ground for some metres before flipping upside down and eventually coming to a stop.
A huge plume of thick black smoke billows from the flaming fuselage.
Passengers were reportedly “hanging like bats” while strapped into their seats before escaping from the wreckage.
Authorities provided an update on Wednesday morning (AEDT) as investigations continue into the cause of the fiery accident.
Incredibly, there were no fatalities and of the 76 passengers and four crew on board, only two people remain in hospital.
You might like
Injuries included head injuries and back sprains, as well as nausea and vomiting from exposure to jet fuel.
Airport CEO Deborah Flint said it was still too early to speculate on the cause of the crash. She said there were “extreme conditions” at the airport, with two severe snowstorms in the days before.
“On Thursday and Sunday, we got more than 20 inches — 50 centimetres — of accumulated snow. That is actually not typical,” she said.
“In fact, it is more snow within that time window than we received in all of last winter.
“There were many delays and cancelations across this part of Canada and the US north-east during this time, creating numerous flight delays and backlogs.”
But Flint said conditions were clear on the day of the crash.
When asked if the weather could have contributed Flint said: “This would not be a time for us to have theory or to speculate.”
Earlier videos posted to social media showed only the aftermath of the landing, with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.
There was blowing snow and wind gusts of 50km/h-65km/h in temperatures of -8.6 degrees, Canada’s weather bureau has said.
Stay informed, daily
The audio recording from the tower at Toronto Pearson International Airport shows the flight was cleared to land just after 2.10pm local time.
The overturned plane at the Toronto airport. Photo: AAP
The tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow bump in the glide path as the plane came in to land.
“It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path,” said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St Petersburg, Florida.
“But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that. The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.”
US investigators will assist in Canadian transport safety officials’ investigation.
It was at least the fourth major aviation mishap in North America in the past month.
A commercial plane and an army helicopter collided near Washington, DC, on January 29, killing 67 people.
A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on January 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground, and 10 were killed in a plane crash in Alaska.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was “relieved there are no casualties after the incident at Toronto Pearson”.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said “the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport”.
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 more than 126 cities in the US, Canada and the Caribbean.
– with AAP
