A harrowing new video shows the moment a Delta plane erupted into a fireball and flipped upside down while coming in for a crash landing at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Another video showed a passenger recording himself while climbing out of the overturned aircraft and onto the snow-covered runway.
At a press conference early Tuesday afternoon, Deborah Flint, CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said a total of 21 passengers were hurt with injuries ranging from minor to critical but not life-threatening.
She said Delta Air Lines has reported that 19 of those passengers have since been released from the hospital, while two remain hospitalized as of early Tuesday afternoon. The regional paramedic service told Fox News Digital on Monday that three people, including a child, suffered critical but not life-threatening injuries. Flint could not clarify if the child was among the two people who remained hospitalized as of early Tuesday afternoon.
Delta Connection Flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, was involved in a “single-aircraft accident” at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) around 2:15 p.m. ET Monday, the airline said. The Federal Aviation Administration said all 80 people aboard the CRJ-900 jet were evacuated, as images also showed the aircraft with a shewn off tail and wing belly up in the snow at Toronto’s airport. The plane had departed from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
Flint said thatToronto Pearson saw extreme conditions and two separate snowstorms between Thursday and Sunday. The airport saw more than 20 inches of snow, which Flint said was more snow “than we received in all of last winter.”
“There are so many factors that lead us to have gratitude today. Again, I cannot commend enough the crew, the flight attendants, pilots and our emergency responders for their quick and effective response. It’s really, really incredible,” Flint said. “And when you see that aircraft, it just makes you really thankful for all the safety checks that go into running this, one of the world’s safest air transportation systems.”
Though there were hundreds of flight cancelations from Thursday to Sunday during the extreme weather conditions, Flint said Monday was a clear day used for “operational recovery.” Another 462 flights were canceled after the crash.
The plane was carrying four crew members and 76 passengers, including 22 Canadians, Flint said.
Another passenger described to Canada’s public broadcaster, CBC, the moment that he said “everything just kind of went sideways.”
“One minute you’re landing, kind of waiting to see your friends and your people, and the next minute you’re physically upside down,” Pete Carlson, identified as an American health-care worker coming to Toronto for a paramedics conference, said.
After the “forceful” landing, Carlson said he considered it “really amazing” that he’s still alive. He said climbing out of the plane felt like “stepping onto the tundra.”
“I didn’t care how cold it was, I didn’t care how far I had to walk, how long I had to stand. All of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft,” he said. “They quickly put those of us that were injured with any sort of blood or sign of trauma onto a single bus, moved us a safe distance away and started to triage and really assess people’s severity of injury or ailment.”
Air traffic control audio released after the crash depicts officials describing how the plane was “ups-side-down and burning” on the tarmac.
Two patients were taken by air ambulance to two different trauma centers – Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center and St. Michael’s Hospital – in Toronto. A child, about four years old, was transported to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
The cause of the crash remains under investigation.
“The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates,” the FAA said.
Delta said its incident response team deployed to Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday evening, including “specially trained Delta Care Team representatives who will provide support for customers and their loved ones.”
“Our most pressing priority remains taking care of all customers and Endeavor crew members who were involved,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement Tuesday morning. “We’ll do everything we can to support them and their families in the days ahead, and I know the hearts, thoughts and prayers of the entire Delta community are with them. We are grateful for all the first responders and medical teams who have been caring for them.”
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In a Monday afternoon X post, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the former Democratic vice presidential candidate, said he was “in touch with Delta after a flight taking off from MSP crash landed in Toronto this afternoon.”
“Grateful to the first responders and professionals on the scene,” he wrote.
“Thinking of those on the Delta flight that left Minneapolis and crash landed in Toronto,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., wrote. “Thankful for all the first responders and those on the plane who worked to get everyone to safety and those injured to care. We must get to the bottom of what happened.”
Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., said she and her staff “are closely monitoring this situation and gathering information.”
“Thank you to all the emergency response teams helping. My thoughts are with everyone on board and their loved ones,” Smith wrote on X.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, R-Minn., said he and his wife “are praying for the passengers and crew who were aboard Flight 4819 and are pleased to see initial reports that no lives have been lost.”
Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., said she was “closely monitoring the situation in Toronto and keeping all those on board in my thoughts.”
“I am praying for those involved and will continue to monitor this situation as details emerge,” Rep. Pete Stauber, R- Minn., said. “I am incredibly grateful for the quick response of the first responders on the ground!”
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The Trump administration has promised a thorough review and update of air traffic control systems nationwide after a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight about to land at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. It was the United States’ deadliest aviation disaster since 2001.
Other recent aviation disasters in North America include a small commuter plane on its way to Nome, Alaska, that crashed on Feb. 6, killing the pilot and nine passengers. Additionally, a medical transport jet with a child patient, her mother and four others aboard crashed into a Philadelphia neighborhood on Jan. 31, exploding in a fireball that engulfed several homes.
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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