A Delta Airlines plane crash-landed in Toronto, Canada’s largest city, on Monday, but fortunately, all 80 people on board survived. The incident occurred amid windy conditions following a snowstorm at Toronto Pearson International Airport. At least 18 people were injured, with the plane flipping upside down during landing.

Delta Flight 4819, originating from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport in Minnesota, crash-landed on the runway around 3:30 pm (20:30 GMT). The aircraft, a CRJ900 made by Bombardier, caught fire after landing, though fire crews quickly extinguished the flames. 

Despite the fire, the fuselage remained mostly intact, and social media footage showed passengers exiting the flipped plane and walking across the tarmac in the snowy, windy conditions.

Why did the aircraft flip upon landing?

According to a report in Al Jazeera, experts believe the plane flipped due to the adverse weather conditions, including strong winds and heavy snow. Aviation analyst Scott Hamilton noted that such flips, though rare, can occur because of factors like weather, speed, and braking anomalies. 

The report also quotes John Cox, an aviation safety expert, saying that while the aircraft is designed to handle weather like this, questions remain, particularly about the missing right wing of the plane.

Toronto was experiencing winter storms with gusts of up to 65 km/h (40 mph) and 22 cm (8.7 inches) of snow that weekend. The airport’s control tower had warned the pilots about potential turbulence before landing.

There were 76 passengers and 4 crew members on the plane. Of the 18 injured, a child, a man in his 60s, and a woman in her 40s were critically hurt. The child was taken to Toronto’s SickKids hospital, while the adults were transported to other hospitals in the city.