Toronto: Eighty passengers had a miraculous escape when their jet crashed here and flipped while landing in heavy wind in a snowed-in airport.
The Delta flight flying in from Minneapolis in the US lost one wing when it hit the runway, turned over on Monday afternoon, and lay on its back as the crew helped the passengers safely off the plane.
Officials said that 18 people, including a child, were taken to hospitals and two were in a critical, but not life-threatening, condition.
Videos of the crash showed crew members shepherding passengers out of the plane on a snow-swept airfield while firefighters rushed to coat the plane and the surrounding area with foam to prevent a fire outbreak.
The Canadian-made Embraer CRJ-900 jet was operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air.
Canadian Transportation Safety Board will conduct an investigation into the unusual accident where a large passenger jet flipped over. It will be assisted by the US Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. “We are working to confirm the details and will share the most current information on news.delta.com as soon as it becomes available”.
Canada’s weather service that there were wind gusts of 61 kilometres per hour when the plane was trying to land.
John Nelson, a passenger on the plane who posted on Facebook dramatic videos of the crash and passengers escaping the plane, scene said, “We just landed. Our plane crashed. It’s upside down. Fire department is on site. We’re upside down. Everybody, most people appear to be OK”.
The Delta crash caps a series of aircraft accidents in North America that began on January 29 when a military helicopter hit an American Airlines jet in Washington, sending them both into the Potomac River and killing all 67 on the two planes.
An air ambulance crashed on February 1 in Philadelphia killing six people on board, including a child returning to Mexico after treatment in the US, and a person on the ground.
A plane carrying 10 people crashed in an icy wilderness in Alaska on February 6, killing all on board.
(IANS)
