‘Upside down and burning’: Plane crash at Pearson airport injured 19, paramedics say

By Canadian Press on February 17, 2025.

TORONTO — A critically injured child is among at least 19 passengers hurt after a Delta Air Lines plane from Minneapolis crashed and flipped over on the tarmac at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on Monday afternoon.

Ambulance service Ornge said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two adults with critical injuries to other hospitals in the city.

Peel Regional Paramedic Services said they had recorded 19 injuries from the crash by late Monday afternoon, adding that the plane’s 80 passengers and crew had all been accounted for.

Images and videos posted on social media showed the plane, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR, flipped over on the tarmac and passengers fleeing the jet as emergency crews responded to the scene.

Audio recording from the Pearson airport tower shows Delta Air Lines flight 4819 was cleared to land shortly after 2 p.m. and the tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow “bump” in the glide path from an aircraft in front of it.

There were no further conversations with the Delta flight until the tower confirmed that a plane had crashed, with air controllers quickly redirecting traffic to accommodate the crash scene.

Audio conversations from ground crews at the airport recorded a burst of commotion from workers at about the same time, with someone yelling at another person to “get off the phone,” while another crew member described “a huge emergency.”

Several minutes later, air traffic control can be heard in the recording directing a medevac helicopter for landing, and noting there are people walking around the aircraft.

“Yeah, we’ve got it,” the medevac responds. “The aircraft … is upside down and burning.”

Delta Air Lines said in a social media post that the flight was operated by its subsidiary Endeavor Air and had departed from St. Paul International Airport in Minneapolis with 76 passengers and four crew on board.

It said affected passengers’ family members and loved ones can reach out to Delta for more information.

“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in the post.

Tracking data from FlightRadar24 shows the same aircraft flew from Cleveland to Minneapolis earlier in the day, and that it was supposed to return to Minneapolis from Toronto.

The plane had arrived at Pearson amid blowing snow following a winter storm that hit the Toronto region over the weekend.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said it is deploying a team of investigators to Pearson airport and federal Transport Minister Anita Anand said she was closely following the “serious incident.”

Her U.S. counterpart, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, said inspectors from the Federal Aviation Administration were on their way to Toronto and the Canadian investigators would take the lead.

“I’ve been in touch with my counterpart in Canada to offer assistance and help with the investigation,” he said on social media.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a social media post that provincial officials are in contact with the airport and local authorities and will provide help as needed.

After the crash, flights in and out of Pearson airport were temporarily suspended.

A spokesman for Montreal-Trudeau International Airport said it was preparing to receive aircraft originally bound for Toronto.

Eric Forest, a spokesman for airport authority, said several diverted flights were expected in Montreal following the accident.

“Our teams are in action to welcome them,” Forest said in an emailed statement.

At Pearson, confused passengers gathered at terminals amid mixed messaging from airport and airline staff.

At one point, an overhead announcement told everyone to proceed to the exit and baggage claim, but some workers were telling passengers to remain at their gates.

Departures and arrivals resumed as of 5 p.m., and airlines suggested passengers check the status of their flights.

Porter Airlines said on social media just before 5:20 p.m. that operations were “in the process of recovering.”

— With files from Sonja Puzic in Toronto, Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal and Chuck Chiang in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 17, 2025.

Jordan Omstead and Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press

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