Delta Airline Crash at Pearson Airport: 1) (Updated) Investigation into plane crash at Pearson airport continues as black box recovered; 2) Delta offering US$30,000 to passengers on plane that crash landed in Toronto; 3) (Updated) Most of the injured in Pearson plane crash released from hospital as probe continues
(Updated) Investigation into plane crash at Pearson airport continues as black box recovered
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Canadian Press Staff, Feb. 18, 2025
The wreckage of a Delta Air Lines flight 4819 is seen on the tarmac of Pearson International Airport, in Toronto, in a Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, still image made from handout video footage. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-CTV. Delays at Toronto’s Pearson airport continued Wednesday as investigators worked to determine the cause of the fiery crash landing of a Delta Air Lines plane.
All 76 passengers and four crew members survived Monday afternoon’s crash landing when the plane hit the tarmac and then tipped over, creating a fireball as its wing scraped along the ground before it rolled over and came to a stop in a cloud of smoke. Video posted to social media showed emergency crews dousing the plane as passengers climbed out of emergency exits and onto the snow-swept tarmac.
In an update on Wednesday, the airline said 20 of the 21 passengers initially sent to local hospitals had been released.
“Delta and Endeavor teams remain in Toronto and are co-operating fully as participants in the investigation,” the airline said in a statement. Endeavor, its subsidiary, was the operator of the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto.
“Maintenance teams are standing by to remove the aircraft from the runway Wednesday once it’s safe to do so.”
Two of Pearson’s five runways, including the “busiest” in Canada, remain closed, said the airport’s duty manager Jake Keating. As a result, the airport had to put a cap on departures throughout the day and a similar step had been taken to manage arrivals.
“This is put in place in an effort to sort of make sure that we’re not overwhelming the airfield and making sure that we’re maximizing our capabilities on the available runways that we have,” he said in an interview with TV station CP24 Wednesday morning.
Once the wreckage is removed, Keating said delays would likely persist as the airport inspected the runway to make sure “everything is still in working order.”
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Tuesday they had recovered the plane’s black box and sent it off for analysis, but it was too soon to say what led to the crash.
Kit Darby, a U.S.-based veteran aviator and flight instructor, suggested in an interview with The Canadian Press that gusty winds and possible mechanical issues with the landing gear may have been contributing factors in Monday’s crash.
A Toronto law firm specializing in aviation cases was retained by two Canadian passengers, said Vincent Genova, a partner at Rochon Genova. The firm also represents family members of passengers who were on the Ukraine International Airlines flight shot down over Tehran in 2020.
Genova said both clients in the Delta crash had suffered injuries, including one who he said went back to the hospital Wednesday over a possible head injury when the seatbelts released. Genova said he was also working with an American firm retained by U.S. clients.
“We’re probably going to start our own investigation to determine if there are any other parties that should be involved in potential litigation moving forward,” he said in an interview.
2) Delta offering US$30,000 to passengers on plane that crash landed in Toronto
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
By Jordan Omstead, Feb 19, 2025
A Transportation Safety Board investigator examines the wreckage of a Delta Air Lines jet on the tarmac at Toronto Pearson International Airport, in Mississauga, Ont., in a Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Transportation Safety Board
Delta Air Lines is offering US$30,000 to passengers who were on the plane that crashed at Toronto’s Pearson airport earlier this week, with a company spokesperson saying the money “has no strings attached and does not affect rights.”
Some of the passengers were injured, but Morgan Durrant said in an email Wednesday that the amount being offered was the same for every customer.
Meanwhile, delays at Pearson airport continued as investigators worked to determine the cause of the plane’s fiery crash landing and crews began removing parts of the wreckage.
Two of Pearson’s five runways, including the “busiest” in Canada, remained closed, said the airport’s duty manager Jake Keating. The airport had capped departures throughout the day and a similar step had been taken to manage arrivals.
“This is put in place in an effort to sort of make sure that we’re not overwhelming the airfield and making sure that we’re maximizing our capabilities on the available runways that we have,” he said in an interview with TV station CP24 Wednesday morning.
The airport’s website listed dozens of cancelled and delayed flights Wednesday. Sunwing Airlines said in a statement that it had to cancel several southbound flights departing from Pearson in order to “prioritize the safe return of customers” currently delayed in various destinations.
Pearson airport later said on social media that Sunwing had cancelled the remainder of its flights for the day, totalling 13 departures.
Once the Delta planewreckage is removed, Keating said delays would likely persist as the airport inspected the runway to make sure “everything is still in working order.”
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Wednesday that the aircraft wreckage will be moved to a hangar at Pearson airport “to be examined further” and that its investigators will also examine the runway before it’s reopened. Investigators had already recovered the plane’s black box on Tuesday, and the agency said they will continue to interview people for the next several days as part of the probe.
All 76 passengers and four crew members survived Monday when Delta Flight 4819, operated by its subsidiary Endeavor, crashed at Pearson.
Video shows the jet made a hard landing then tipped over, creating a fireball as its wing scraped along the ground before it went belly-up and came to a stop in a cloud of smoke. Emergency crews doused the plane as passengers climbed out of emergency exits and onto the snow-swept tarmac.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian praised the actions of first responders and the flight crew, while seeking to reassure nervous flyers.
“It’s horrifying when you look at the video,” he said in an interview Wednesday with “CBS Mornings.”
“But the reality is that safety is embedded into our system. Air travel in the United States is the safest form of transportation and travel there is – period – and it’s because we train for events like this.”
He called the crew operating the flight “experienced,” adding that all pilots train for the conditions encountered Monday.
The airline said 20 of the 21 passengers initially sent to local hospitals had been released as of Wednesday morning.
The Transportation Safety Board has said it’s too soon to tell what led to the crash.
Kit Darby, a U.S.-based veteran aviator and flight instructor, suggested in an interview with The Canadian Press that gusty winds and possible mechanical issues with the landing gear may have been contributing factors in Monday’s crash.
A Toronto law firm specializing in aviation cases was retained by two Canadian passengers, said Vincent Genova, a partner at Rochon Genova. The firm also represents family members of passengers who were on the Ukraine International Airlines flight shot down over Tehran in 2020.
Genova said both clients in the Delta crash had suffered injuries, including one who he said went back to the hospital Wednesday over a possible head injury when the seatbelts released. Genova said he was also working with an American firm retained by U.S. clients.
“We’re probably going to start our own investigation to determine if there are any other parties that should be involved in potential litigation moving forward,” he said in an interview.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2025.
3) (Updated) Most of the injured in Pearson plane crash released from hospital as probe continues
Courtesy Barrie360.com and Canadian Press
The CEO of Toronto’s Pearson airport authority says two main runways remain closed after a Delta Air Lines plane crashed and flipped on the tarmac Monday afternoon, leaving 21 people injured.
Deborah Flint said investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, as well as teams from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, Mitsubishi Aircraft Corporation and Delta are on site to look into the cause of the crash.
Delta said in a social media post that 19 out of 21 passengers initially taken to Toronto-area hospitals have been released as the investigation continues.
Delta flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto, operated by subsidiary Endeavor Air, crashed on landing around 2:30 p.m. Monday.
Flint said authorities will not speculate about a possible cause until a thorough investigation is complete.
A video that appears to have captured the crash has emerged on social media, showing a plane bursting into flame as soon as it touched down on the runway, skidding and flipping over seconds later.
Other videos appeared to show passengers scrambling out of an upside-down cabin as workers assisted them off the plane onto the snowy tarmac, and emergency crews hosed the aircraft with water.
There were no reports of deaths in the crash as of Tuesday afternoon.
Paramedics said Monday that out of 80 people on the flight, at least three people, including a child, were sent to hospital with critical but non-life-threatening injuries. Others were reported to have minor injuries.
Cory Tkatch, a commander with Peel Region paramedics, said at a press conference Tuesday that passengers had “a multitude of different injuries,” including back sprains, head injuries, anxiety, nausea and vomiting due to the jet fuel exposure.
The airport’s fire chief, Todd Aitken, called the emergency response “textbook” and said crews were on the scene within minutes.
“Upon arrival, the crew did witness spot fires,” said Aitken. “Once the fires were knocked down, the crews did make entry and performed primary search and rescue.”
Aitken added that most passengers had “self-evacuated” from the plane upon crew arrival.
Aitken had said late Monday that “the runway was dry and there were no crosswind conditions” at the time of the crash. But when asked about that again on Tuesday, he referred those questions to the Transportation Safety Board.
The plane arrived at Pearson amid blowing snow following a winter storm that hit the Toronto region over the weekend. Gusting winds up to 65 km/h were reported at the airport around the time of the crash.
Flint said Monday was an “operational recovery day” at the airport after hundreds of flights were cancelled or delayed due to the weekend snow storms. After the plane crash, 462 scheduled flights were cancelled while 544 flights operated, she said.
“We have been in recovery mode since resuming flights at 5 p.m. yesterday, catching up on delayed flights, and that continues into today as well,” said Flint, adding that the airport’s longest east-to-west and north-to-south runways remain closed.
Flint said the wreckage of the aircraft will remain on the tarmac as the investigation continues, and expects it will stay there for the next 48 hours.
“This would not be a time for us to have a theory or to speculate on what caused the crash,” said Flint, adding that the flight crew are “heroes” for getting passengers to safety.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that the airline is doing everything it can to support the passengers and their families.
“Our most pressing priority remains taking care of all customers and Endeavor crew members who were involved,” he said.
Meanwhile, reaction has poured in from Canadian and U.S. officials in the aftermath of the crash.
Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand said Monday she was closely following the “serious incident.”
“My thoughts are with those injured and those families,” she said in a social media post expressing her gratitude for the first responders.
Her American counterpart, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, said he has been in touch with Anand to offer assistance and help with the investigation.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a social media post Monday that provincial officials are in contact with airport and local authorities and will provide help as needed. Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow thanked first responders in her own post and expressed relief that all passengers and crew on board the plane had been accounted for.
Arrivals and departures at Pearson resumed by 5 p.m. on Monday, but the airport said delays were expected over the coming days as crash investigators do their work.
Pearson advised travellers to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.