After the majority of the passengers on a plane that crashed landed in Toronto on Monday afternoon escaped unharmed, they expressed their astonishment.
The Delta plane lost its tail and a whole wing as it skidded up the runway in flames before overturning and coming to a dramatic upside-down stop.
Before they clambered over luggage to flee onto the snowy runway, some of the 80 passengers were left hanging upside down while still strapped to their seats. The incident is being investigated, and no fatalities have been reported.
Analysts have suggested the harsh winter weather may be to blame, or that the plane landed badly. They have also credited the plane’s safety features with saving lives.
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
In a video statement released on Tuesday, Transportation Safety Board senior investigator Ken Webster said that after the initial impact parts of the aircraft separated.
The fuselage came to rest slightly off the right side of the runway, upside down and facing the other direction, he said.
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 chairs, and had to free themselves onto the cabin ceiling before fleeing the inverted airplane.
All 80 persons on board survived. According to Delta, 19 of the 21 injured passengers were later released after being initially taken to nearby hospitals on Tuesday morning.
Delta has committed to providing additional information.
According to Mr. Webster, as part of their investigation, investigators have recovered the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder from the wreckage.
Dave Mantin