Latest news with #MitsubishiCRJ-900
Forbes
20-03-2025
- General
- Forbes
Preliminary Report On Delta Plane Flip In Toronto Indicates High Wind Gusts And Rapid Descent
Canadian authorities released a preliminary report Thursday finding the crew of Delta Flight 4819 faced several challenges before the plane hard-landed and flipped on a Toronto runway last month, one of a string of recent high-profile aviation accidents that have led to increased public scrutiny on air travel. TSB of Canada senior investigator Ken Webster provided an update from the airfield days after the ... [+] crash. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada released Thursday its preliminary report into the crash of Delta flight 4819, operated by regional carrier Endeavor Air, which flipped and caught fire at Toronto Pearson airport after a hard landing in gusty conditions on Feb. 17. The crash resulted in no fatalities among the 76 passengers and four crew members and, within three days after the crash, all 21 injured passengers initially transported to local hospitals had been released. The report details how the crew faced wind gusts up to 35 knots and landed hard without flaring the nose of the plane up to ease the landing. TSB said preliminary data from the flight data recorder showed the enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) sounded an alert 'sink rate' 2.6 seconds before touchdown, indicating a high rate of descent. Delta Air Lines has offered $30,000 to each passenger on board the Mitsubishi CRJ-900 regional jet, for a total of $2.3 million if everyone on board accepts the offer. Delta said in a statement it remains 'fully engaged as participants in the investigation' and will refrain from public comment 'out of respect for the integrity of this work that will continue.' The cause of the crash remains under investigation as Canadian authorities work to determine the exact sequence of events, with a final report not expected for up to a year. Until then, the cause of the crash is undetermined. TSB Chair Yoan Marier said accidents 'rarely stem from a single cause' and instead are often 'the result of multiple complex, interconnected factors.' The TSB's preliminary report details that the first officer was flying the plane at the time of landing and had worked with Endeavor Air, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, for a little more than a year. At the time of the crash, she had accumulated 1,422 hours of total flight time — just under a third of which were on the CRJ plane involved in the crash. Upon touchdown, '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,' according to the report. A brief video summary from the TSB released Thursday said further analysis would be done as authorities examine the certification of wing structure, hard landings and pilot training. 'It seems clear from the preliminary report that the first officer negligently piloted and slammed the plane into the ground at a high sink rate of over 1000 feet per minute and at a bank angle of 7.5 degrees to the right. This likely led to the collapse of the right main landing gear that we all saw on the video of the crash. Our client has suffered significant injuries because of Delta's negligence,' said Andres Pereira of Austin, Texas.-based DJC Law, which represents a passenger now suing the airline. The Montreal Convention 1999 (MC99) governs all international flights between countries that have signed the treaty, including the U.S. and Canada, and establishes airline liability in the case of death or injury to passengers. First Delta Crash Lawsuit Will Be Filed Today, Lawyer Says—After Airline Offers $30,000 To Passengers Over Plane Flip (Forbes)
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
A flight to a Toronto paramedics conference becomes a real emergency for a former EMT
TORONTO (AP) — Former paramedic Peter Carlson is still having difficulty putting into perspective the shuddering jolt he and 79 others aboard Delta Air Lines flight 4819 experienced earlier this week. One moment, the 40-year-old was looking forward to arriving in Toronto where he was speaking at an Ontario paramedic chiefs convention. The next, he was hanging — strapped only by his seatbelt — looking down at the airplane's ceiling, attempting to assess the chaos around him. As blood flowed from a gash on the back of Carlson's head, he noticed other injured passengers, including one pinned beneath a seat behind him. There was an overwhelming smell of jet fuel as it streamed down the window next to his seat by the plane's right wing which was sheared off during Monday's crash landing at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. See for yourself — The Yodel is the go-to source for daily news, entertainment and feel-good stories. By signing up, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy. 'It was a forceful impact, a sideways movement and suddenly just inverted,' Carlson told The Associated Press on Wednesday. 'And the only mission was to get out.' Carlson's friend and convention chairman Michael Nolan, 53, was waiting to pick him up when he spotted a plume of black smoke in the distance. 'Are you OK? Something's going on on the runway,' Nolan texted Carlson, not realizing it was his plane. Carlson responded that he was on the tarmac. At first, Nolan thought it meant Carlson's plane had landed. Then his friend sent a follow-up text with a picture of his fellow passengers evacuating the upside-down plane. 'My heart just sank ... knowing that was his reality was absolutely shocking to me and really brought it home,' said Nolan, a paramedic chief in a county north of Ottawa. Instead of just attending a convention about the role paramedics play in the world, the two men found themselves in the middle of a real-life emergency. Nolan rushed to a triage area to assist in treating injured passengers, greeting his friend of over a decade with a big hug. Carlson's paramedic instincts also kicked in, even though he's held a so-called desk job for the past decade. 'I was comfortable with how my body and mind empowered me to do what I needed to do at that point,' he said. 'I was able to see the objective nature of the challenge in front of us, which was to get away from the threat.' Though credited for helping in the evacuation, Carlson deferred praise to the four crew members who shepherded the passengers to safety. That everyone survived astounds him, especially after seeing videos posted online of the Mitsubishi CRJ-900 jet touching down heavily and skidding down the runway before flipping over. 'Even without seeing that, it's remarkable,' Carlson said, noting he bruised his ribs and has several cuts and bruises on his legs. 'I don't know if I'm deserving of going into miracle territory, but it sure feels ...' he added, before pausing to find the appropriate word. 'It's amazing. It's amazing.' The last of the 21 injured passengers was released from the hospital on Thursday. The cuts and bruises will heal, but the mental trauma left Carlson wondering whether he could muster enough resolve on Wednesday to still deliver his address. 'It took me a lot of personal motivation to leave my room,' he said. 'This morning, I just couldn't. I was quite emotional about this whole thing and just really want to be home.' And yet, deliver Carlson did — giving a 20-minute speech in which he outlined his background and influences in paramedicine, the significance of the job and the difference paramedics can make. Whatever anxieties he felt didn't show. Though Carlson longed to be back home in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with his wife and three children, his nerves were eased being among his working family of paramedics and Nolan. National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse welcomed Carlson on Tuesday into a drumming circle of healing. A day later, Ontario paramedic chiefs association president Greg Sage honored Carlson's efforts on the airplane with a certificate. 'I think every single one of us in this room would hope that if we personally were faced with what Pete was, that we would respond in a similar manner,' Sage said. 'I think he's inspired all of us.' Carlson's trip to Toronto began with a hug with Nolan during a very trying time. Two days later, the two shared a more joyous hug onstage after Carlson accepted his award to a standing ovation. 'I was not as present the last couple of days as I had hoped to be,' Carlson apologized to the crowd. 'Given the events as they've played out, I can't think of a better group of people in terms of taking care of one another in their community and myself," Carlson said. "So just a very big thank you.'
Euronews
20-02-2025
- General
- Euronews
Delta plane crash passengers offered $30,000 with 'no strings attached'
Passengers who were onboard the Delta Airlines flight that crash landed in Toronto earlier this week have been offered $30,000 (€28,760) in compensation. Delta Flight 4819 burst into flames and flipped over when it landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on 17 February. Although none of the 80 passengers and crew onboard were killed in the accident, all 76 passengers have been offered $30,000 (€28,760). A Delta spokesperson said that the financial offer 'has no strings attached and does not affect rights'. This likely means that passengers will still be at liberty to sue the airline. If all of the passengers accept the money, the airline will owe nearly $2.3 million (€2.2 million) in total. Passengers recount what it was like to be in the crash 21 passengers were injured and taken to local hospitals after the crash. 20 of these have now been released. Witnesses and video from the scene shows the plane landing so hard that its right wing is sheared off. It bursts into flames before sliding down the runway and flipping over. 'It appears from the video that the plane landed so hard that the right main gear collapsed. The tail and right wing began skidding causing the plane to roll over to the right,' Ella Atkins, the head of Virginia Tech's aerospace and ocean engineering department and a pilot. 'During the rollover, the right wing and tail sheared off, and a fire ignited, likely due to skidding and fuel leakage at least from a right wing tank.' John Nelson, one of the passengers, captured the scene as he climbed out of the upside-down plane. He described a hard landing and the plane skidding onto its side before flipping onto its back. In an interview with Canadian broadcaster CBC News, passenger Pete Carlson described the touchdown as a "forceful event, where all of a sudden everything just kind of went sideways." Carlson had fastened his seatbelt, as instructed, prior to landing. When he unlatched the belt to evacuate the plane, he said he "crashed down onto the ceiling, which had become the floor." He smelled gas, saw aviation fuel cascading down the cabin windows and knew they all had to get out. Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her son out of the plane, then Carlson dropped onto the snowy tarmac. "All of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft,' he said. What caused the Delta plane crash in Toronto? While the cause of the crash remains unclear, aviation experts have been giving their professional opinion on likely factors. Experts say investigators will consider conditions on the ground, the pilot's actions before landing, and potential problems with the landing gear. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation with support from the US National Transportation Safety Board. Was the pilot to blame? Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went wrong when the plane - a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by the Canadian company Bombardier - touched down. Juan Browne, a commercial pilot who discusses aviation incidents on his YouTube channel, said preliminary data suggests the speed and rate of descent, crosswinds and the weather were "within limits.' But Browne raised concerns about the pilots' actions before landing. 'It appears that the aircraft simply did not flare at all,' Browne said. Flaring slows the aircraft's rate of descent. 'They just drove it into the runway.' The Delta flight was cleared to land at about 2.10 pm. Audio recordings show the control tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow 'bump' on approach. 'It was windy, but the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,' said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida. 'The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.' What was the weather like? At the time of the crash, Pearson airport was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph (51 kph) gusting to 40 mph (65 kph), according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8.6 degrees Celsius). Browne said blowing snow reduces visibility. Michael McCormick, an assistant professor and program coordinator for air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, said investigators would look closely at the landing gear to make sure it was properly locked in place, and would consider staffing on the ground and in the aircraft. 'They will look at the number of people working both on the aircraft and the control towers. And they will look at their schedules," McCormick said. "Are they well rested? Are they well staffed?' But a Canadian investigator refused to comment on preliminary theories. 'At this point, it's far too early to say what the cause of this accident might be,' TSB Senior Investigator Ken Webster said in a video statement Tuesday, as he stood near the remains of the aircraft. He said investigators will examine the wreckage and runway, and have removed the cockpit voice and flight data recorders and sent them to the lab for analysis. That everyone survived the Delta crash is a testament to the safety improvements made by airlines and aircraft manufacturers, including wings that are designed to come off to reduce explosions, well-trained flight crews and seats built to withstand impacts of up to 16 times the force of gravity. 'That seat is your single best resource in order to keep you protected,' McCormick said. 'There's a reason why the flight attendants walk around the aircraft prior to (landing) ... to make sure everybody has their seat belts fastened." Is flying still safe? The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in recent weeks. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC, on 29 January killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on 31 January, killing the six people onboard and another person on the ground. On 6 February, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska. Nevertheless, according to Jeff Guzzetti, an airline safety consultant and a former FAA and NTSB investigator, air travel is 'extremely safe." 'The odds of getting injured or killed in an commercial airline accident is far less than driving in your car,' Guzzetti said. Still, he worries about layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration under the Trump administration. 'I am concerned that the proposed cuts and changes to the FAA may increase the risk of further accidents,' he said.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Yahoo
Another plane crashed on Monday: Is it safe to fly?
On Monday, a Delta Air Lines plane crashed and flipped over while attempting to land in Toronto, another in a string of other notable plane crashes that have occurred in the past month. The string of plane crashes has aviation officials working to determine causes, and many travelers to be concerned about safely flying commercially. Despite the recent crashes, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has assured the American people that flying is still safe. 'Air travel is the safest form of travel in the country. So you can travel and feel good about it on American airplanes,' said Duffy on social media Monday evening, per Time. According to Time, experts have said that these recent crashes 'should not be viewed as a systemic, nationwide problem, but rather as four random events that happened to cluster together in time.' All of the recent incidents are completely independent of each other and have all happened under different circumstances. Some may have been caused by piloting errors, or errors from air traffic control while other crashes were caused by weather or mechanical issues, per Time. Everyday, an average of 45,000 commercial and private flights take off in the U.S., with 2.9 million passengers traveling over 29 million miles of air space, per Time. The odds of someone dying in an air incident are about 1 in 13.7 million. In comparison, the odds of dying in a car accident are 1 in 95. The midair collision between a passenger jet and a helicopter in Washington, D.C., was the first major fatality with a major airline in the U.S. since 2009. The last major crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport was in 2005, when a flight with 309 passengers burst into flames after skidding on the runway. There were no fatalities from that incident, according to Time. A Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis, Minnesota, was attempting to land at the Toronto Pearson International Airport when it flipped over. The crash occurred around 2:45 p.m. local time on Monday, per USA Today. As it was landing, the plane encountered strong winds and drifting snow. It flipped over on the tarmac and skidded, and when it stopped, the plane was belly up and at least one wing had been torn off, per The New York Times. The flight had 76 passengers and four crew members on board, and all 80 were accounted for and evacuated from the flight. There were 18 people who suffered injuries, two of which were in critical but non-life-threatening condition, one of them was airlifted to a trauma center. The other 16 people suffered minor to moderate injuries and were taken to the hospital, according to The New York Times. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went wrong when the plane — a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by the Canadian company Bombardier — touched down, The Associated Press reported. Officials reported that 22 of the passengers were Canadian. Following Monday's crash, the airport was shut down for two hours with all departures and arrivals stopped during that time. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will lead the investigation, but investigators are being sent from the FAA to assist the Canadian investigators, per Time. On Jan. 29, a commercial jet suffered a midair collision with a military helicopter over the Potomac River, killing all 67 people on board the plane and helicopter, according to The New York Times. Just two days later, on Jan. 31, a Medevac plane crashed into the ground Philadelphia, killing seven people, including one person who was on the ground. The crash occurred a minute after the plane took off. On Feb. 6, a commuter plane in Nome, Alaska, crashed and killed all 10 people on board. A few days after the incident in Alaska, a private jet attempting to land at the Scottsdale, Arizona, airport crashed into a parked plane. One person was killed and three were injured in the incident, per Time. According to Axios, the recent plane crashes triggered a spike in searches over how safe it is to fly. Google searches for 'Is it safe to fly' have been surging since the beginning of February. This Google Trends data goes back to 2004 and the only other time searches for that question were higher was during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Other similar searches, such as 'how many plane crashes in 2025' and 'why are planes crashing,' have also been trending lately, per Axios.
Voice of America
19-02-2025
- General
- Voice of America
Questions emerge about what may have caused Delta plane to burst into flames and flip over
Investigators will consider the weather conditions, as well as the possibility of human error or an aircraft malfunction as they try to determine why a Delta Air Lines jet burst into flames and flipped upside down as it tried to land in Toronto, aviation experts said Tuesday. Witnesses and video from the scene Monday afternoon shows the plane landing so hard that its right wing is sheared off. It bursts into flames before sliding down the runway and flipping over. Miraculously, all 80 people on board the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto's Pearson International Airport survived. 'It appears from the video that the plane landed so hard that the right main gear collapsed. The tail and right wing began skidding causing the plane to roll over to the right,' Ella Atkins, the head of Virginia Tech's aerospace and ocean engineering department and a pilot. 'During the rollover, the right wing and tail sheared off, and a fire ignited, likely due to skidding and fuel leakage at least from a right-wing tank.' All but two of the 21 people injured on the flight have been released from hospitals, the airport CEO said Tuesday. 'How grateful we are there was no loss of life, or life-threatening injuries," Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said during a news conference. 'The crew heroically led passengers to safety.' Crash investigation Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went wrong when the plane — a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by the Canadian company Bombardier — touched down. Aviation experts said investigators will consider conditions on the ground, the pilot's actions before landing, and potential problems with the landing gear. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation with support from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. Juan Browne, a commercial pilot who discusses aviation incidents on his popular YouTube channel, said preliminary data suggests the speed and rate of descent, crosswinds and the weather were "within limits.' But Browne raised concerns about the pilots' actions before landing. 'It appears that the aircraft simply did not flare at all,' Browne said. Flaring slows the aircraft's rate of descent. 'They just drove it into the runway.' At the time of the crash, Pearson was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 51 kph, gusting to 65 kph, according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. The temperature was about minus 8.6 degrees Celsius. Browne said blowing snow reduces visibility. Michael McCormick, an assistant professor and program coordinator for air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, said investigators would look closely at the landing gear to make sure it was properly locked in place, and would consider staffing on the ground and in the aircraft. 'They will look at the number of people working both on the aircraft and the control towers. And they will look at their schedules," McCormick said. "Are they well-rested? Are they well-staffed?' A Canadian investigator refused to comment on preliminary theories. 'At this point, it's far too early to say what the cause of this accident might be,' TSB Senior Investigator Ken Webster said in a video statement Tuesday, as he stood near the remains of the aircraft. He said investigators will examine the wreckage and runway, and have removed the cockpit voice and flight data recorders and sent them to the lab for analysis. 'Everything just kind of went sideways' Peter Carlson, who was traveling to Toronto for a paramedics' conference, said the landing was 'very forceful.' 'All the sudden, everything just kind of went sideways and the next thing I know, it's kind of a blink, and I'm upside down, still strapped in,' he told CBC News. That everyone survived the Delta crash is a testament to the safety improvements made by airlines and aircraft manufacturers, including wings that are designed to come off to reduce explosions, well-trained flight crews and seats built to withstand impacts of up to 16 times the force of gravity. 'That seat is your single best resource in order to keep you protected,' McCormick said. 'There's a reason why the flight attendants walk around the aircraft prior to (landing) ... to make sure everybody has their seat belts fastened." But is it safe to fly? The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in recent weeks. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground. And on Feb. 6, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska. Nevertheless, according to Jeff Guzzetti, an airline safety consultant and a former FAA and NTSB investigator, air travel is 'extremely safe." 'The odds of getting injured or killed in a commercial airline accident is far less than driving in your car,' Guzzetti said. Still, he worries about layoffs at the Federal Aviation Administration under the Trump administration. ''I am concerned that the proposed cuts and changes to the FAA may increase the risk of further accidents,' he said. The Delta flight was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. Audio recordings show the control tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow 'bump' on approach. 'It was windy, but the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,' said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida. 'The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.' Carlson said when he took off his seat belt, he crashed onto the ceiling, which had become the floor. He smelled gas, saw aviation fuel cascading down the cabin windows and knew they all had to get out. Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her son out of the plane, then Carlson dropped onto the snowy tarmac. "All of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft,' he said.
