One minute, a Delta Connection flight was poised above the tarmac at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday, ready to touch down.
The next, it slammed into the runway, leaving a trail of sparks and flames as it eventually flipped over.
Eighteen people were injured in the crash of the CRJ-900 jet, which was operated by Endeavor Air. The plane carried 76 passengers and four crew members, according to Fox News.
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language and graphic images that may be disturbing for some readers.
🔴 A newly released video shows the exact moment of the impact of Delta Connection flight 4819 at YYZ
by airmainengineer#deltaairlines #avgeek #accident pic.twitter.com/2BqnqPyxVn
— Airways Magazine (@airwaysmagazine) February 18, 2025
The BBC said, it is not clear why the plane flipped over. Existing theories include the high winds that were in the area as the plane touched down and the possibility that the plane hit a light when it touched down.
“All of a sudden the fire trucks and helicopters, you know, pushed out on a trolley and thought there was something wrong,” said Ron James, a witness who was supposed to board a flight, according to ABC.
WARNING: The following video contains vulgar language that may be offensive to some readers.
🚨BREAKING: ASTONISHING AUDIO captures Delta plane CRASH at Toronto Int’l Airport! The real-time conversation as the disaster happened. Flight 4819 from Minneapolis, INVERTED, 80 souls on board, 8 injured, 1 child fighting for life.🚨#planecrash #Toronto #Delta pic.twitter.com/QyRKcUb5Zi
— J-Elms (@James_Elmquist) February 18, 2025
“Then we were going to get on the plane, and they said, ‘No, you’re not going anywhere,’” he said.
Passenger John Nelson said, the journey was “a typical flight from Minneapolis to Toronto. And we were coming in, and I did notice the winds were super gusty. The snow had kinda blown over the runways. So coming it was routine, but it was noticeable that the runways were in kind of a weird condition,” according to the New York Post.
“And when we hit, it was super hard. We hit the ground, and the plane went sideways, and I believe we skidded on our side and flipped over on our back,” he said
“There was a giant firewall down the side. I could actually feel the heat through the glass,” Nelson told ABC, saying there was a moment of quiet before all on board began leaving the plane.
New video obtained exclusively by ABC News shows survivors of the Delta plane crash in Toronto hanging upside down, strapped in their seats, after the plane flipped after crashing.
Read more: https://t.co/xLjrFI2cqF pic.twitter.com/e4yvABgYOV
— ABC News (@ABC) February 18, 2025
“We released the seat belts. I kind of fell to the floor, which is now the ceiling, and helped the lady next to me get out of her seat belt,” Nelson said.
“You heard the flight attendants yelling, ‘Open the door. Everybody, take your stuff and get out now,’” he said. “We all worked together and got out of there as quickly as we could.”
“We hit the ground, and we were sideways, and then we were hanging upside down like bats,” passenger Peter Koukov said. “It all happened pretty, pretty fast. The plane was upside down, obviously. Some people were kind of hanging and needed some help being helped down.”
“The one minute you’re landing and kind of waiting to see your friends and your people, and the next minute you’re physically upside down and just really turned around,” passenger Pete Carlson said, adding that the landing sounded like “cement and metal, you know.”
