Yesterday we saw an absolutely wild aviation accident. The good news is that at least as of now, there are no fatalities. In the hours since the accident, a lot more details have emerged about what happened, ranging from a video of the plane landing, to an interview with passengers. So I want to take an updated look at all those details.
In this post:
Delta Connection CRJ-900 crashes on landing in Toronto
This accident happened on Monday, February 17, 2025, and involves Delta Air Lines flight DL4819, operating the 1hr26min flight from Minneapolis (MSP) to Toronto (YYZ). The flight was operated by Endeavor Air, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta, as part of the carrier’s Delta Connection fleet.
The aircraft in question was a 16-year-old Bombardier CRJ-900 with the registration code N932XJ. There were a total of 80 people onboard, including four crew members and 76 passengers.
This accident happened on landing, as weather conditions in Toronto weren’t great, with winds of 23 knots, gusting up to 33 knots. When the plane came in to land at 2:13PM on runway 23, its gear collapsed, it flipped over, and it came to a stop upside down, at which point an evacuation was ordered.
So far, we have a couple of videos of the plane landing. One is a security camera from a distance, while another was filmed by a pilot on another aircraft. The videos show the plane descending at a very fast pace, and seemingly not flaring much before landing. The plane seems to touch down on its right rear gear, at which point the right wing breaks off, the plane catches fire, and then it flips upside down.
Initial reports suggest that there were no fatalities, though several passengers with injuries have been transported to area hospitals. As a result of the accident, Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) was closed for several hours.
Below is the air traffic control audio from the incident, per VASAviation. However, there’s not much to it — the aircraft received clearance to land, and that was the end of the communication. All subsequent communication was with emergency vehicles.
This is an absolutely wild accident
First and foremost, thank goodness that initial reports suggest that there were no fatalities. I hope that those who have been injured make a full and speedy recovery.
Obviously an investigation will take some time, and should give us a good sense of what happened. It’s simply incredible to me that the plane somehow ended up coming to a stop upside down, missing both wings, with the fuselage otherwise intact.
There’s video from inside the cabin of the evacuation. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like to be a passenger. Even if you have your seatbelt on, evacuating an aircraft when you’re upside down is just next-level. Huge kudos to the crew for getting passengers off the plane safely.
Below is an interview with one of the passengers shortly after the accident, providing the perspective of what it was like onboard.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be leading the investigation here, though the United States National Transportation Safety Board will be assisting as well. So far, Delta CEO Ed Bastian has simply issued the following statement regarding the accident:
“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport. I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site. We are working to confirm the details and will share the most current information on news.delta.com as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, please take care and stay safe.”
Bottom line
A Delta Connection CRJ-900 had a horrible accident in Toronto, whereby it came to a stop on the runway inverted, with both wings disconnected from the fuselage. I’m so relieved to hear that initial reports are that there were no fatalities, because this is a shocking accident.
It’s really a testament to how well built planes are. How incredible that a plane can have such a horrendous accident on landing, yet the main part of the fuselage remained intact, and seatbelts worked properly.
What do you make of this accident?
Experts seem to attribute cause of landing gear collapse to overly rapid rate of descent and no flare on landing.
Isn't this the company that advertised its flights being unmanned (female only)?
It's interesting it took 3 USA-related crashes for the MAGA trolls to be widely released to try and control the narrative everywhere they can.
Just a heads up, but both wings did not break off. There are multiple photos and videos that still show the left wing attached after the aircraft rolled.
The crew who recorded from their cockpit were likely *not* a commercial airline but a private aircraft or charter, as they were waiting to line up from the north side of 23. The private terminal and facilities (inc'l FedEx) are on the north end, which is where almost all the business and charter jets would park. Kudos to the Pilot releasing his video, despite the potential risk of losing his employment or being censured by...
The crew who recorded from their cockpit were likely *not* a commercial airline but a private aircraft or charter, as they were waiting to line up from the north side of 23. The private terminal and facilities (inc'l FedEx) are on the north end, which is where almost all the business and charter jets would park. Kudos to the Pilot releasing his video, despite the potential risk of losing his employment or being censured by the TSB.. He put his obvious humanity above all other considerations.
You are right, it was a Learjet 40 waiting for takeoff....
Glad to hear that everyone survived.
Also, it’s worth mentioning that this is the second-ever hull loss of a CRJ-700 series aircraft (700/900/1000-they’re a different series than the -100 & -200), and of course the second one in 2.5 weeks. First it was a -700, now a -900, so let’s hope the -1000 doesn’t join this trend…
It is sad how this miraculous story of survival and good will between passengers and crew was so badly hijacked by idiots and trolls.
Great positive outcome for most passengers/crew.
Well said
On my very next flight and many after, I will be looking at the bins/ceiling and decide how I'm going to land if I'm upside when I unbuckle.
Brace with an arm and break it? Or just land on the noggin? I guess we would hit the bin and slide to the ceiling (two 2' drops better than one 4').
I would expect there to be a guide somewhere in the world of aviation?
upside down
IMHO: you press your feet under the seat in front of you, lift one hand up and brace against the ceiling and releae the belt with the other hand. If you are somwhat athletic you should be able to have most of your weight on the feet and slowly lower yourself to the ceiling. If your are a bit overweight or not very strong you should atleast be able to have a controlled fall. Just be sure that you don't break your arm in that case.
In a normal landing, the aircraft is flared and the main wheels alone touch the ground first. The wind direction was 30 degrees off of runway alignment and the pilot would have "crabbed" the aircraft. After the rear wheels touch down, the pilot will then align the aircraft with the runway prior to the nose gear touching down. Two passengers have related consistent descriptions: the plane landed upright but forcefully then slid sideways then flipped....
In a normal landing, the aircraft is flared and the main wheels alone touch the ground first. The wind direction was 30 degrees off of runway alignment and the pilot would have "crabbed" the aircraft. After the rear wheels touch down, the pilot will then align the aircraft with the runway prior to the nose gear touching down. Two passengers have related consistent descriptions: the plane landed upright but forcefully then slid sideways then flipped. If the forceful landing included the nose gear and not just main wheels, when the aircraft was still "crabbed," there's your slide . . . waiting for a small imperfection on the runway surface to catch a tire . . . and flip the aircraft.
New video shows he came in too fast, hit hard on the right rear wheel first and the strut collapses immediately. Then the plane flips and rolls. Bloody terrifying. :(
Yes. That video also shows three-point landing thus not flaring thus too fast. Slats were deployed but couldn't make out flaps. Investigation to follow. Best that we have such investigation boards.
I was on a DL (yes, I know, not mainline) CRJ900 landing at LGA (from CLT) yesterday, at about the same time, in the same gusty wind conditions. Yes, there was no snow on the ground at LGA, but the landing wasn't all that bumpy, compared to others I've experienced. I'm sure everyone here will know more than I but this seems to be more than "it was windy."
Are you serious JP?
Please inform the readership what chemical substances are affecting your better judgment?
Have you no regard for those affected by the subject aeronautical incident?
This is the exact reason why Canada needs to become part of America.
I'm sick and tired of how the world is trying to make Musk and Trump look bad by causing all these accidents.
First Biden left all these problems for Trump to fix to the point that those outstanding problems caused the flights domestically.
Now that Trump and Musk has started to fix what's wrong with America, other countries are...
This is the exact reason why Canada needs to become part of America.
I'm sick and tired of how the world is trying to make Musk and Trump look bad by causing all these accidents.
First Biden left all these problems for Trump to fix to the point that those outstanding problems caused the flights domestically.
Now that Trump and Musk has started to fix what's wrong with America, other countries are doing sabotage work to try and make America look bad.
If anything, it demonstrates how great we are as a nation since that the pilot was probably an American that was white and wasn't hired for some DEI reason, because even with a planed riddled with traps, no one died.
Shush troll
You're part of the problem, and fail to understand that when your lot write like this everyone laughs at you.
Trump and his followers are a bunch of mendacious troglodytes, unfit to clean out a farmyard.
Your reply makes you look just as bad as the original poster!
Is this a joke? You've got to be ironically trolling, because there is no way anyone can actually think that Canada intentionally somehow caused an accident which likely included Canadians on board the aircraft (since it was flying to Canada, after all).
This is exactly how sick and degenerate people like the Canadians and Biden camp are, they're willing to sacrifice their own people just to attempt to make Trump and Musk look bad. They pretend to be all nice with those initiatives like free healthcare (Canada) and social welfare (here), but behind the scenes, they are willing to put people's lives at risk just to make our men look bad.
It's time to stop.
@JPlat You are white yeah so you are going to be all right. And do not assume that a non-white person is going to do a bad job. Yes, I think that you should be hired based on your credentials and experiences, etc. But do not assume that this terrible occurrence was not even more tragic because of a lack of DEI. I am sure an experienced minority pilot would have done an equally good...
@JPlat You are white yeah so you are going to be all right. And do not assume that a non-white person is going to do a bad job. Yes, I think that you should be hired based on your credentials and experiences, etc. But do not assume that this terrible occurrence was not even more tragic because of a lack of DEI. I am sure an experienced minority pilot would have done an equally good job with the landing as well in order to avoid any fatalities or serious injuries.
As a white person you get treated better anywhere in the world. So, if you are going solely for the DEI is a bad approach then you should know that racism and discrimination are real and stronger than ever. Even non-white people discriminate against each other and it is stupid to do so.
You don't get treated better as a white, you get treated different. Do you think it's fun everytime I go to South East Asia and to the local women there, I'm just a money tree and everyone of those women are asking for money just for some fun?
I just think that everything should be merit based, and there are things that upbringing can benefit that not even the best education can make up...
You don't get treated better as a white, you get treated different. Do you think it's fun everytime I go to South East Asia and to the local women there, I'm just a money tree and everyone of those women are asking for money just for some fun?
I just think that everything should be merit based, and there are things that upbringing can benefit that not even the best education can make up for, it is up to people like Trump, Musk and other selfless men who can demonstrate and lead from the frontline, and lead by example.
@Jplat Well, you and I can both agree that things should be merit-based. But white people do get treated better. I know non-white people who have applied for jobs overseas but HR and job recruiters will literally tell them that they only want to hire white people even if they have less experiences/credentials, etc.
After all aviation incidents one should be compelled to consider those involved, their families and friends before anything else.
Those who fly and believe in the supernatural might consider thanking their lucky stars for being spared the trauma of such events.
Uncontrolled or ill conceived comments only serve to display a gross disregard for those involved and demean the commentator.
What I see in the video is:
- left wing up
- left wing hits ground
- right wing breaks off half way along
- fire at root of left wing.
Did any of the tyres blow out?
This blog is not miles and points anymore. It’s bullshit liberal bias. Ben should sit economy on flights or check out places that aren’t luxurious and report that. Ur game is up shortly and just wait till taxes follow and become retroactive on trillions of points. It is legal to do already. But yet be enforced.
LOL. You should chill a bit ;)
Then don’t read the blog. It’s a free country or so you trumpers like to pretend it is.
What on earth are you talking about? A post on a plane crash is “bullshit liberal bias”??
Calm down, Ben has to blog this and other click bait especially anything left leaning to generate unique visitors and clicks. Its a tradeoff we have to deal with to get his great reviews. No one besides hardcore readers cares about lounge reviews, he cant run a business off the daily readers alone he needs the clickbait crowd and to get them you have to be political. All part of the game!
How is this at all left leaning? He's documenting an airplane crash.
I heard Flori-duh is leaving the USA and becoming its own country. Sweet Jesus if that is correct. BUH-BYE :)
Seeing the video, it looks like the plane basically fell down hard on the runway and either didn't have the landing gear down or they snapped off upon impact, but then the body of the plane hit the ground and it looks like both wings were snapped off right then and it burst into flames and then kept barreling forward and presumably that really large dirt cloud coming up behind the building is the fuselage...
Seeing the video, it looks like the plane basically fell down hard on the runway and either didn't have the landing gear down or they snapped off upon impact, but then the body of the plane hit the ground and it looks like both wings were snapped off right then and it burst into flames and then kept barreling forward and presumably that really large dirt cloud coming up behind the building is the fuselage turning sideways and upside down as it skids to a stop. The question is, why did they come down so hard? Were there visibility issues and they misjudged how close they were to the runway? Did a huge wind suddenly push them down? Did both happen at the same time? Were there other factors at play? All of this is going to be fascinating to see what the investigation determines, and I am so glad that this appears to be a happy ending story with no deaths.
I just saw the landing from a different angle and the landing gear was down. The left wing did not snap off when it landed, the right one did and the plane pretty much immediately start spinning upside down clockwise, and at that point the left wing was still attached as it started spinning and the wing went around in the air too.
I am relieved to hear that everyone survived. May the injured recover sooner.
I feel sad and crazy to see this accident happen.
What is the over/under on flying hours for the crew? I'll take 500 for the captain and 150 for the first officer.
Navy pilot. Which is exactly what I want.
For Endeavor, they both have over 1,500 hours (captain very well could have 3,000+), and I actually trust a 2,000 hour pilot fresh out of training hand flying 4 landings a day as much or more then a 12,000 hour complacant captain who actually manually flies two landings a month.
I've just heard on the radio from a retired aviation specialist the plane may have been very inconvenienced by strong side winds, slid on the runway, albeit at a relatively slow speed, and hit a snow embankment, flipping over it. There were two heavy snowstorms over Ontario. Airport crews had to plough all this snow over and over again. The embankment could have been quite hard at that point
Do inexperienced pilots VS mother nature?
Probably a lot more common than anyone would like to admit..
In the event of an emergency leave all personal belongings behind. Failure to comply may result in felony charges of involuntary manslaughter, gross negligence, imprisonment, and fines up to 2 million dollars .
This phenomenon of crash survivors carrying bags out has been studied. Many times it's pure shock and people do it reflexively. I suspect that only in a few cases it's intentional. No one knows how they will act until the moment of imminent harm is upon them.
I guess it also depends on the kind of crash. In this case (plane flipped upside down) I tend to agree, but there are also much more relaxed evacuations in which we can see this a lot. And honestly we learned this already in school, where we had sometimes bomb threads and if we want to take our stuff home we need to take our bags with us for the evacuation.
Every second counts in the event of an evacuation. Per FAA in-flight fires are rare , but post-crash fires do occur. Cabin occupants initially survive initial forces of such crashes but become incapacitated due to smoke inhalation.
Here’s a few aircraft incidents you can look at if you’d like to know more.
United Airlines 232
Air Canada 797
Saudia 163
Can you site a reference/source for that, I would truly like to read that.
Apparently, Delta was more focused on the customer experience than safety.
I think the wind lifted the wing up, and then it flipped and both wings were sheared off by the force of them hitting the pavement
Look how the side the main door is open on is scratched up (from the runway)
But how did they exit the plane if it is flipped over.
The most premium crash!
the most Dim whitted post - but we knew you had to show up.
God, people like you are so exhausting. This is a tragic accident, people were injured and sent to the hospital. Not the time or place to be cracking jokes.
You are infinitely far worse than the person, who y'all decide to relentlessly mock and obsess about.
I thought the site was going to be banning people for this?
The commenter is a guest so he can't be banned. When posting as guest it says they need to be reviewed before they show, but I assume this isn't really the case.
@ ImmortalSynn -- That account has been blocked now.
Stupid post, so lets sensor it.... NAH.. let people be stupid... probably why the plane crashed, somebody DID SOMETHING STUPID.. either Ground crew forgot a bolt of the pilot was not following checklists, so why expect The stupid to not show up and comment?
This is one of those where it anything my take away is flying is incredibly safe and these are ridiculously well engineered machines. The fact it can perfectly flip and just seemingly come to rest without massive structural damage to the fuselage/cabin is mind-blowing to me.
Says a lot for the seat belts too.
It will be very interesting to see what actually happened - how the plane became unstable. and the maneuvers the plane did before it finally came to rest.
Bombardier built a very solid machine and it saved lives.
and the little bit of video shows that the Flight attendants did a great job of getting people out
Yeah that video was heartening.
This is one of those that we should step back and marvel out how things can turn out ok if people listen to directions and we trust (and enable... boeing are you listening...) engineers to do their thing
Mechanical engineering team that designed this aircraft should get an award! (Assuming the wings didn't come off while the plane was still in the air).
it's also worth noting the difference between this and the S. Korean crash where it was an obstacle that created such tragic results. There was apparently nothing in the way of this plane.
National Transportation Safety Board - serves no purpose - shut it down. Check.
National Nuclear Security Administration - serves no purpose - shut it down. Check.
Federal Emergency Management Agency - serves no purpose - shut it down. Check.
Centers for Disease Control cancer research - serves no purpose - shut it down. Check.
You do realize that the accident will be investigated by Canada?
The 51st state? :D
Yes. Just as you realize the NTSB sends a support team to most aircraft accidents anywhere in the world.
The comment was a point of irony. A 24-year-old is in a mad rush to shut down US government organizations . . . about which he admittedly knows nothing . . . but now we need one of them.
of course the US will participate if for no other reason than that it involved a US airline and GE engines.
But it was a Canadian aircraft that crashed on Canadian soil.
Leave the politics out of this. It was given the minute it happened who would be responsible for the investigation.
Screw u dick @ jack. Stay out USA. I don’t want u. But I’m sure ur nice backside pays least taxes as possible, hypocrite. Get out or stay out my country I love.
@ ben found another account you should ban
Your grammatical eloquence suggests that you are not North American.
@Jack how uneducated are you? Why would you just assume that Florida sunshine is not from North America? You think that being North American only means from the United States or Canada? There are many other counties that are part of North America too. Study up on your geography. Also, Americans and Canadians make grammatical mistakes as well.
unreal that their was not fire and that the body of the plane did not break apart.
I work at airport... there was a significant fire, luckily the wing tore off the aircraft as fuselage would've burned since the wings store a lot of the fuel... fire didn't last long and crew suppressed the the fuselage with foam.... very lucky that there was an air ambulance that was able to land beside the crash site as it was near the crash when it happened
Was Denzel Washington flying this plane?
Hah! Have to admit...hilarious.
It just reemphasizes that takeoffs and landings are the most dangerous part of the flight, so make sure to wear the proper footwear during pushback, takeoff, and within 30 minutes of landing (closed shoes) along with a jacket depending on the weather and your passport in your pocket. Everything else can go.
And aren't websites greyed out when accidents occur, or is that just when fatalities happen? I recall Korean's website grayed out when their accident in Cebu.
Yes when the Asiana accident happened, two of the three people would've lived if they had properly fastened their seatbelts.
Pretty incredible that it appears that everyone survived and, according to Canadian officials, none of the people that were hospitalized are in life-threatening condition.
Winter and the string of global aviation accidents can end anytime.
There were hospitalizations including two 'critical'
yes... but Toronto officials said not "life threatening"
There is a difference between critical and life threatening.
and I think it is 3 critical
If they recover, I'm sure that they'll be given 5000 SkyPesos for their inconvenience. That's about the limit your wonderful company cares.
no, no, no, no - don't short-change everyone. I am sure that each of the 80 passengers will ALSO receive their 20/50/100/200 or whatever 'delayed' luggage sky pesos compensation. There is no way that their luggage would have been retrieved / delivered within 20 minutes of 'landing'.
Not exactly a 'premium' experience .. or am I missing something?
Jackass
I connected through Boston yesterday, and the weather was quite harsh. There was quite a big snow storm in the area, and I had recieved a text from DL warning about potential disruptions and a free flight switch option with waived fare differences. I ended up continuing my original journey, and I landed around 5pm on VS from LHR. I was on a widebody (A339), and even then there were a lot of bumps and...
I connected through Boston yesterday, and the weather was quite harsh. There was quite a big snow storm in the area, and I had recieved a text from DL warning about potential disruptions and a free flight switch option with waived fare differences. I ended up continuing my original journey, and I landed around 5pm on VS from LHR. I was on a widebody (A339), and even then there were a lot of bumps and turbulence on landing.
I actually threw up in the last 5 minutes before landing. That has never happened to be before, and I fly quite often. I also am not sick right now, so it was likely a mix of overeating and the turbulence (rather than a stomach bug).
I hope everyone injured makes a full recovery. This story is quite wild.
I'm glad that preemptive sarcasm exists in the OMAAT comments.
Of course there is no need to investigate what caused this crash. It had to have been caused by DEI.
I came back to literally say this.
Not true. It happened because of Canadian incompetence. Canada thinks they are so great but they are actually a bunch of bitter people angry at America. They rip each other off with high prices and are jealous that things in America are much cheaper.
They ban Americans from buying a house there but America doesn't retaliate.
If Canadians just start acting normal, this wouldn't have happened. Yes, DEI is sort of at fault if you...
Not true. It happened because of Canadian incompetence. Canada thinks they are so great but they are actually a bunch of bitter people angry at America. They rip each other off with high prices and are jealous that things in America are much cheaper.
They ban Americans from buying a house there but America doesn't retaliate.
If Canadians just start acting normal, this wouldn't have happened. Yes, DEI is sort of at fault if you say that DEI hired a bunch of incompetent Canadians who can't even build a strong CRJ and can't manage runways to prevent plane flips.
Keep drinking the kool-aid. Most Canadians aren’t jealous of the US, we are more than happy being who we are. Not sure how a 16 year old plane and a standard built runway used thousands of times involves Canadian incompetence. If I want to be realistic, I could ask how everyone else managed to land properly but an American couldn’t. Just saying.
I think a vodka and a valium are in order for you. :)
And I'm sure this wouldn't have happened if Canada were the 51st state. /s
@derek get outside and touch grass or something bud, you’re railing against Canadian property laws in the comments of -multiple- points and miles blogs posts about a plane crash. Is that really how you wanna lead your life?
You are clearly unhinged.
@derek - Sorry, I meant this for you. I think a vodka and a valium are in order.
Thankfully there were no immediate fatalities. The pilot interviews should make interesting reading!