A Delta Air Lines jet that crash-landed and flipped upside down at Toronto Pearson International Airport last month was coming in too fast before its landing gear collapsed on impact, investigators have revealed. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) released new findings from its ongoing probe into the February 17 crash, shedding light on the terrifying sequence of events that left 21 people hospitalized.
The aircraft, a Delta Flight 4819 jet operated by Endeavor Air, had departed from Minneapolis just before noon. As it approached Toronto, strong winds and freezing temperatures created hazardous landing conditions. According to the preliminary report, a safety warning system alerted the flight crew about 2.6 seconds before touchdown, indicating a potential issue.
High-Speed Landing And Gear Failure Led To Disaster
Investigators found that the plane’s airspeed was 136 knots (roughly 155 mph) at the time of landing, a speed deemed too high for a safe touchdown under the given weather conditions. When the aircraft made contact with the runway, its right main landing gear collapsed, triggering a catastrophic chain reaction.
“At touchdown, the following occurred: the side-stay that is attached to the right [main landing gear] fractured, the landing gear folded into the retracted position, the wing root fractured between the fuselage and the landing gear, and the wing detached from the fuselage, releasing a cloud of jet fuel, which caught fire,” the report reveals.
This structural failure led to the wing root breaking apart between the fuselage and the landing gear, ultimately detaching the wing from the aircraft. The impact also caused a fuel release, igniting a fire upon landing.
“The exact sequence of these events is still to be determined by further examination of the fracture surfaces,” the statement concluded.
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Tomorrow the TSB will be releasing a preliminary report into the @TorontoPearson airport’s @Delta plane crash. Here’s what we know so far: https://t.co/FkhSN3XrHV
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Despite the dramatic crash, all 80 passengers and crew survived. First responders rushed to the scene, with three severely injured passengers taken to different hospitals for treatment. Footage from the aftermath showed the plane belly-up on the snowy runway, its right wing completely detached.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian commended the flight crew’s response. “This is what we train for,” he told CBS after the crash. The TSB continues to investigate the exact sequence of mechanical failures to determine the full cause of the accident.
