Passengers expressed their astonishment after miraculously surviving a dramatic crash landing in Toronto on Monday afternoon.
The Delta flight skidded down the runway engulfed in flames before flipping over and coming to a sudden stop upside down, shedding its tail and an entire wing in the process.
Many of the 80 people on board found themselves suspended upside down, still strapped to their seats, before scrambling over scattered luggage to reach safety on the snow-covered runway.
Fortunately, no fatalities have been reported, and authorities are currently investigating the incident.
Experts suggest that severe winter weather or a rough landing may have contributed to the crash, while also crediting the aircraft’s advanced safety features for preventing a tragedy.
What happened when the plane crashed?
The incident took place shortly after 14:00 local time on Monday (19:00 GMT).
It involved a model CRJ-900 plane, operating as Delta Air Lines flight DL4819.
The aircraft arrived at Toronto from the US city of Minneapolis and was carrying 76 passengers and four crew members.
As it landed, the plane appears to have struck the runway, slid for some distance and then flipped over, observed Dan Ronan, a journalist and pilot licensed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) who spoke to BBC News.
Footage obtained by TMZ showed part of the aircraft bursting into flames as the landing happened. Firefighters rushed to put these out.
Passenger Pete Carlson told broadcaster CBC it was "a very forceful event", recalling the sound of "concrete and metal" at the moment of impact.
He and others on board were suspended upside down in their seats, and had to release themselves onto the cabin ceiling before leaving the inverted aircraft.
All 80 people on board survived. On Tuesday morning, Delta said 21 injured passengers were initially transported to local hospitals - with 19 later released.
How does a plane flip over?
BBC Verify has analyzed recordings of the communications between the plane and air traffic control, finding no indication that any trouble was anticipated during the landing.
This assessment was confirmed by Marco Chan, a former pilot and senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK, as well as plane crash investigator Ismo Aaltonen, both of whom reviewed the audio.
According to Mr. Chan, the aircraft appeared to have experienced a hard landing, characterized by an unusually high rate of descent. He noted that the plane likely touched down with one wheel first, which may have caused the landing gear to collapse on impact. This, in turn, could have led to the right wing striking the runway, ultimately causing the aircraft to roll.
Weather conditions may have played a role in the incident. The airport fire chief reported that the runway was dry at the time, but earlier statements from airport authorities mentioned that while heavy snowfall had ceased, "frigid temperatures and high winds [were] moving in."
As the aircraft approached, air traffic controllers warned the pilots of 38 mph (61 km/h) gusts and the possibility of a "slight bump in the glide path," according to CNN.
Mr. Ronan explained that the pilots appeared to have attempted a crab maneuver, a technique in which the aircraft is turned into the wind before aligning with the runway just before touchdown.
How did everybody on board the plane survive?
"The sheer survivability of this is really amazing," Mr Ronan told the BBC, pointing out that the aeroplane's fuselage (body) had stayed intact.
Other commentators hailed the craft's safety features. CNN analyst and former FAA inspector David Soucie said the plane had broken apart as it had meant to, with the detachment of the wings stopping the fuselage ripping apart.
Graham Braithwaite, professor of safety and accident investigation at the UK's Cranfield University, said planes were also designed so that air passengers involved in an accident did not hit things likely to cause injury.
"Even the design of the seat back or the tray table is all part of how we consider making that survivable space," he told the BBC. "And the seatbelt that people have is so important - that is the ultimate thing that stops people being thrown around the cabin like this," he added.
The flight attendants have also been praised for getting everyone off the flipped aeroplane quickly. Emergency crews on the ground were labelled "heroic" by the airport chief after reaching the crash site in a matter of minutes.
Mr Carlson said the passengers themselves had worked together very effectively. "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.
How did the seat design help?
Mr. Ronan emphasized the critical role of the plane’s high-impact 16g seats, which are "designed to absorb a great deal of punishment."
These seats are built to withstand forces up to 16 times the force of gravity and must undergo rigorous crash testing using human dummies to simulate real-world impact scenarios.
According to Kevin Campbell, founder of Aviation Consulting & Engineering Solutions and an FAA-authorized seat safety expert, the seat legs—secured to a track on the aircraft floor—must be able to tilt 10 degrees downward on one side and roll 10 degrees on the other without breaking.
In past accidents, the FAA has observed seats piling up at the front of aircraft, often with bodies still attached, Campbell noted.
Mr. Ronan explained that modern safety regulations ensure seats remain securely bolted to the floor, significantly increasing passenger survivability. "You have a higher chance of staying safe in your seat rather than being strapped to a moving object that’s bouncing around the cabin," he said.
Additionally, these regulations require seats to absorb impact forces in a way that reduces head and spinal injuries. Passengers must be able to withstand collisions with the seat in front, while seat designs distribute weight effectively to prevent spinal fractures. Seatbelts, now less stretchy than before, provide a more secure restraint.
"As a result, aircraft today are significantly safer," Mr. Campbell said, adding that these safety measures "absolutely" contributed to improved outcomes in this crash.
"It’s remarkable that the seats performed exactly as designed," Mr. Ronan added. "They remained intact, the seatbelts functioned correctly, and the seats did not detach from the floor."
He further stressed, "Imagine the number of head and spinal injuries we would have seen if the seats had come loose."
Which other plane crashes have happened recently?
This is the fourth major air crash in North America within a month, with several other recent incidents still under investigation.
- On January 29, a passenger plane and a military helicopter collided mid-air near Washington, D.C., killing all 67 people on board.
- On February 1, a medical transport plane carrying six people crashed in Philadelphia, killing all on board and one person on the ground.
- On February 6, a small aircraft crashed in Alaska, resulting in 10 fatalities.
- These incidents follow a high-profile crash in South Korea in December, which claimed 179 lives.
Despite these tragedies, aviation experts emphasize that air travel remains one of the safest modes of transportation—and is becoming even safer over time.
According to the US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident dashboard, there were 257 fatal aviation accidents worldwide in 2024, a significant decline from 362 in 2014.
