Startling new footage has emerged showing the moment a Delta Air Lines flight crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport before flipping upside down with 80 people onboard.
The terrifying incident occurred just before 3:00PM on Monday, as Flight DL4819 - a Bombardier CRJ-900LR carrying 76 passengers and four crew members from Minneapolis, Minnesota - attempted to land in the aftermath of a major snowstorm.
18 Injured, Including Child in Critical Condition
The impact left 18 people injured, with three — including a child — suffering critical injuries, according to Ontario’s ambulance service, Ornge, per BBC News.
The child was rushed to Toronto’s SickKids Hospital, while a man and a woman in their 60s were also transported in critical condition. The remaining injured passengers were taken to local hospitals with minor injuries.
Despite the severity of the crash, all 80 people on board survived.
“We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,” said Deborah Flint, CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, at a Monday night press conference.
She credited first responders for their swift actions, saying, “There was no loss of life, and this is in due part to our heroic and trained professionals, our first responders at the airport.”
New footage, obtained by TMZ, shows the moment the jet is consumed by smoke the moment it hits the runway:
Passengers Capture Harrowing Aftermath
Footage from the scene quickly spread across social media, with passengers documenting the chaos from inside the overturned cabin.
Snapchat user Ashley Zook filmed herself still strapped into her seat, appearing upside down as she processed the shock of what had just happened.
“I was just in a plane crash. Oh my god,” she said in the video.
Another passenger, Pete Koukov, captured his own escape from the wreckage, sharing his footage with the caption: “Being alive feels pretty cool today.”
As he climbed from the flipped aircraft onto the snow-covered tarmac with help from a flight attendant, he could be heard saying, “Holy f**k. Oh my fing God. Yo, I was just on this f**ing plane.”
Meanwhile, Peter Carlson, another passenger, described the scene inside the overturned aircraft.
“It was cement and metal,” he told CBC. “The absolute initial feeling is just need to get out of this.”
Carlson also recalled how passengers instinctively came together to help one another.
“What I saw was everyone on that plane suddenly became very close, in terms of how to help one another, how to console one another,” he said. “That was powerful, but there was definite: ‘What now? Who is leading? How do we find ourselves away from this?’”
Weather, Wind, and Investigations
The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation, but experts are already analyzing potential factors.
Toronto Pearson had been grappling with high winds and freezing temperatures after a weekend snowstorm dumped over eight inches of snow.
On Sunday (February 16), officials from Toronto Pearson tweeted: "The snow is still falling at the airport.
"Since it started yesterday, we've already had 12.2 cm of snow accumulate as of 8 a.m. The latest forecast shows we could see an additional 15 cm today.
"In total, we've had 53.6 cm of snow this past week. To put that into perspective, that's more than the 47.6 cm we got in January, December, and November, combined!
"Our teams are working hard to clear the runways by plowing, sweeping, and blowing the snow away."
A second tweet, shared hours before the crash on Monday, read: "Here's a look at part of our airfield this morning as the clean up continues from this weekend's storm.
"Our crews worked all weekend to keep the roughly 5 million square metres of airfield clear of snow to keep planes arriving and departing safely."
Additionally, FlightRadar24 data indicated the plane landed amid “gusting crosswinds and blowing snow.”
However, Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken later stated the runway was dry and there were no crosswind conditions at the time—an assertion some pilots disputed after reviewing footage of the incident.
U.S. aviation expert John Cox noted that weather data showed an average crosswind of 19 knots (22 mph) at the time of landing, though gusts could have varied.
"It's gusty, so they are constantly going to have to be making adjustments in the air speed, adjustments in the vertical profile and adjustments in the lateral profile," Cox explained.
Investigators are particularly focused on why the right wing detached from the aircraft during the crash.
Airport Disruptions & Investigations Underway
Two runways at Toronto Pearson remain closed as investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) work to determine what went wrong.
Canadian Transportation Minister Anita Anand acknowledged the severity of the incident in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “I’m closely following the serious incident at Pearson Airport involving Delta Airlines flight 4819 from Minneapolis.”
Meanwhile, Constable Sarah Patten of the Peel Regional Police said authorities were still working to confirm the full extent of injuries.
“It is my understanding that most of the passengers are out and unharmed, but we’re still trying to make sure, so we’re still on scene investigating,” Patten told Reuters.
A Rare but Survivable Crash
While planes flipping over on landing is rare, similar incidents have happened in the past—most notably with McDonnell Douglas MD-11 aircraft.
In 2009, a FedEx freighter flipped on landing in Tokyo, killing both pilots. A 1999 China Airlines flight inverted at Hong Kong, killing three. Another FedEx freighter overturned at Newark in 1997, though there were no fatalities.
While flights have resumed at Toronto Pearson, airport officials warned that disruptions would continue over the next few days due to the ongoing investigation.
“We expect some operational impacts and delays as two runways remain closed,” Flint confirmed.
Statement from Delta Air Lines
In a statement to VT, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines said: "Delta’s incident response team deployed to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) Monday evening to support efforts surrounding Delta Connection flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, that was involved in a single-aircraft accident at YYZ around 2:15 p.m. ET."
"No fatalities have been reported and some of the customers initially transported to area hospitals have been released," the statement continued.
A comment from Delta CEO Ed Bastian read: “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."