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Boston Globe
21-02-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Survivors of past air disasters offer support after Toronto crash
There were no survivors when a commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, a medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31 and a plane carrying 10 people crashed in Alaska on Feb. 6. But in Toronto, not only did no one die, the last of the injured were released from the hospital Thursday. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It's amazing,' said passenger Peter Carlson, who spoke at a conference less than 48 hours after the crash. Though he managed to crack a joke — 'Nothing beats a good road trip besides an airplane crash' — he later admitted struggling to leave his hotel room. Advertisement 'I was quite emotional about this whole thing and just really want to be home,' said Carlson, the newest member of what retired flight attendant Sandy Purl calls a 'sad sorority and fraternity.' A history of survival Monday's crash in Toronto wasn't the first time lives were spared during a major aviation disaster there: In 2005, all 309 people on board Air France Flight 358 survived after it overran the runway and burst into flames. In 1989, 184 of the 296 people aboard United Airlines Flight 232 survived a crash in Sioux City, Iowa. And in 1977, Purl was one of 22 survivors when Southern Airways Flight 242 lost both engines in a hailstorm and crashed in New Hope, Georgia. Sixty-three people aboard the plane died, along with nine on the ground. 'Immediately you have a euphoria because you survived,' said Purl, now 72. 'But then you go into what's known as psychic numbing, which protects you from everything that's in your brain that you can't bring to the surface for a long time down the road, if ever.' Advertisement For more than a year after the crash, Purl's strategy was to flee whenever anyone mentioned the disaster. Eventually she was admitted to a psychiatric hospital where she told the staff, 'I can't stop crying.' A kindly doctor took her hand and reassured her what she was feeling was real. 'For the first time, a year and a half later, people weren't saying, 'You look so good! Get on with your life, you're so lucky to be alive,'' she said. 'For the first time, someone gave me permission to feel and to cry and to feel safe.' Survivors stick together Both Purl and Lockie are members of the National Air Disaster Alliance, which was created in 1995 to support survivors and victims' families and advocate for safety improvements. In 2009, the group published an open letter to the 155 passengers and crew members of US Airways flight 1549 after Captain Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger famously landed the plane in the Hudson River after a bird strike disabled both engines. 'We are grateful and thankful that all survived, but survivors need time to process and comprehend what it means to be an air crash survivor,' the group wrote, encouraging survivors to rest, retreat, rely on others and reserve their rights to privacy. Paying it forward, Lockie is offering similar advice to those aboard the Toronto flight. She described being in a fog for about eight weeks after her crash, struggling to keep up with her corporate job as her injuries healed and being beset by nightmares and panic attacks. Advertisement 'Absolutely number one as far as I'm concerned is taking to somebody who can understand,' she said. 'I think Delta is a fantastic airline and I'm sure their care team is fantastic, but then again, how many people on those care teams have actually been involved in an aviation incident?' Friends and family might urge survivors to move on with their lives, she said, but 'it just doesn't work that way.' 'You might have fears that come out later on, and you really have to be able to deal with those,' she said. 'So my recommendation is to take all the help you can possibly take.' It doesn't take much to trigger memories While Lockie said her experience hasn't deterred her from flying often, it has shaped her behavior in other ways. When she enters a store or restaurant, for example, she always checks for the fastest way out. 'You have to be able to calm yourself if there's something that triggers your emotional aptitude,' she said. Purl, who returned to work as a flight attendant four years after the crash, said she can be triggered by the smell of gasoline or seeing news footage of other crashes. 'I look at the TV and I see my crash,' she said. 'I smell it. I taste it. I see the black smoke and I can't get through it. I feel the heat of the fire.' The Toronto survivors may find their experience exacerbates underlying traumas, she said. 'Like the layers of an onion, you pull one back and there's another layer underneath,' she said. Her advice: Live one day at a time, seek out people who offer unconditional love and talk, talk, talk. 'And then find a way to make a difference as a result,' she said. Advertisement
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
All aboard Delta flight survive after plane flips while landing in Toronto
TORONTO (NEXSTAR) — A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto's Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said. The airline said in a statement that 21 injured passengers were initially transported to local hospitals. As of Tuesday morning, 19 had been released. 'Our most pressing priority remains taking care of all customers and Endeavor crew members who were involved,' Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. 'We'll do everything we can to support them and their families in the days ahead, and I know the hearts, thoughts and prayers of the entire Delta community are with them. We are grateful for all the first responders and medical teams who have been caring for them.' Snow blown by winds gusting to 40 mph (65 kph) swirled when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went so drastically wrong when the plane touched down. Peter Carlson, a passenger traveling to Toronto for a paramedics conference, said the landing was 'very forceful.' 'All the sudden everything just kind of went sideways and then next thing I know it's kind of a blink and I'm upside down still strapped in,' he told CBC News. Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no details on the crash. Video posted to social media showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac. 'We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,' Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters. Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken said 18 passengers were taken to the hospital. Earlier in the day, Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto's SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals in the city. Emergency personnel reached the plane within a few minutes and Aitken said the response 'went as planned.' He said 'the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions.' The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in the past three 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. The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 landing from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames amid stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived the crash. On Monday, Pearson 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). 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 the approach. 'It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you're going to be up and down through the glide path,' said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida. 'So it was windy. But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,' Cox said. 'The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.' The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, not far from the start of the runway. Just after the crash, tower controllers spoke with the crew of a medical helicopter that had just left Pearson and was returning to help. 'Just so you're aware, there's people outside walking around the aircraft there,' a controller said. 'Yeah, we've got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning,' the medical helicopter pilot responded. Carlson was among those outside the aircraft. He 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 he needed to get out but said his fatherly intuition and paramedic skills kicked in. He looked for those he could help. Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her young son out of the plane and then Carlson dropped onto the tarmac. Snow was blowing and it 'felt like I was stepping onto tundra.' 'I didn't care how cold it was, didn't care how far I had to walk, how long I had to stand — all of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft,' he said. Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 aircraft is a proven aircraft that's been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather. He said it's unusual for a plane to end up on its roof. 'We've seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it's pretty rare,' Cox said. Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing. 'If one wing is missing, it's going to have a tendency to roll over,' he said. 'Those are going to be central questions as to what happened to the wing and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. They will be found, if not today, tomorrow, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will read them out and they will have a very good understanding of what actually occurred here.' The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it was sending a team to assist in the Canadian investigation. Endeavor Air, based in Minneapolis, is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and the world's largest operator of CRJ-900 aircraft. The airline operates 130 regional jets on 700 daily flights to over 126 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, according to the company's website. The CRJ-900, a popular regional jet, was developed by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier. It's in the same family of aircraft as the CRJ-700, the type of plane involved in the midair collision near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Chicago Tribune
18-02-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Toronto airport CEO says all but 2 of 21 people hurt in Delta crash have left hospitals
TORONTO — All but two of the passengers injured on a Delta Air Lines jet that crashed upon landing in Toronto have been released, the airport CEO said Tuesday. Miraculously, all 80 people on board the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto's Pearson International Airport survived the crash Monday afternoon. Most of them walked away with minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said. The aircraft came down fast, landing so hard that it lost its right wing, then burst into flames on the runway. The aircraft slid to a stop, upside down, leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake. Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said 19 of the 21 people who were hurt have been released but did not provided any details on the two who remain hospitalized. Authorities said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went wrong when the plane touched down. At the time of the flight's arrival, Pearson was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph gusting to 40 mph, according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit. Peter Carlson, a passenger 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. Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences Monday but provided few details. The aircraft was a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by the Canadian company Bombardier. 'We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,' Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that 'the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected.' 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. The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames in stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived. 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.' The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L. 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 he needed to get out, but his paramedic skills kicked in and he looked for those he could help. Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her young son out of the plane and then Carlson dropped onto the tarmac. He said snow was blowing but 'I didn't care how cold it was, didn't care how far I had to walk, how long I had to stand — all of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft.' Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 has been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather, but that it's unusual for any plane to end up on its roof. 'We've seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it's pretty rare,' Cox said. Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing. He said the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be imperative to understanding what actually occurred. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it was sending a team to assist. Endeavor Air, based in Minneapolis, is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and the world's largest operator of CRJ-900 aircraft. The airline operates 130 regional jets on 700 daily flights to over 126 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, according to the company's website. Originally Published: February 18, 2025 at 12:03 PM CST
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Toronto airport CEO says all but 2 of 21 people hurt in Delta crash have left hospitals
TORONTO (AP) — All but two of the passengers injured on a Delta Air Lines jet that crashed upon landing in Toronto have been released, the airport CEO said Tuesday. Miraculously, all 80 people on board the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto's Pearson International Airport survived the crash Monday afternoon. Most of them walked away with minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said. The aircraft came down fast, landing so hard that it lost its right wing, then burst into flames on the runway. The aircraft slid to a stop, upside down, leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake. 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. Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said 19 of the 21 people who were hurt have been released but did not provided any details on the two who remain hospitalized. Authorities said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went wrong when the plane touched down. At the time of the flight's arrival, Pearson 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). Peter Carlson, a passenger 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. Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences Monday but provided few details. The aircraft was a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by the Canadian company Bombardier. 'We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,' Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that 'the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected." 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. The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames in stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived. 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.' The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L. 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 he needed to get out, but his paramedic skills kicked in and he looked for those he could help. Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her young son out of the plane and then Carlson dropped onto the tarmac. He said snow was blowing but 'I didn't care how cold it was, didn't care how far I had to walk, how long I had to stand — all of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft.' Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 has been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather, but that it's unusual for any plane to end up on its roof. 'We've seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it's pretty rare,' Cox said. Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing. He said the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be imperative to understanding what actually occurred. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it was sending a team to assist. Endeavor Air, based in Minneapolis, is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and the world's largest operator of CRJ-900 aircraft. The airline operates 130 regional jets on 700 daily flights to over 126 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, according to the company's website. ___ Casey reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Michael Sisak in New York, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, Alex Veiga in Los Angeles, and Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed reporting.
The Independent
18-02-2025
- General
- The Independent
All 80 aboard a Delta jet survive after it flips then bursts into flames on a Toronto runway
The Delta Air Lines jet came down fast, wobbled so hard that it lost its right wing, and burst into flames on a runway in Toronto. The aircraft slid to a stop, upside down, leaving a trail of black smoke in its wake. Miraculously, all 80 people on board the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto's Pearson International Airport survived the crash Monday. Most of them walked away with minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said. Delta said some of the 18 injured were released from hospitals Tuesday. Authorities said the cause of the crash remains under investigation. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it's not clear what went wrong when the plane touched down. At the time of the flight's arrival, Pearson 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). Peter Carlson, a passenger 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. Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences Monday but provided few details. The aircraft was a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by the Canadian company Bombardier. 'We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,' Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that 'the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected." 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. The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames in stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived. 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.' The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L. 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 he needed to get out, but his paramedic skills kicked in and he looked for those he could help. Carlson and another man assisted a mother and her young son out of the plane and then Carlson dropped onto the tarmac. He said snow was blowing but 'I didn't care how cold it was, didn't care how far I had to walk, how long I had to stand — all of us just wanted to be out of the aircraft.' Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 has been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather, but that it's unusual for any plane to end up on its roof. 'We've seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it's pretty rare,' Cox said. Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing. He said the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder will be imperative to understanding what actually occurred. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it was sending a team to assist. Endeavor Air, based in Minneapolis, is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and the world's largest operator of CRJ-900 aircraft. The airline operates 130 regional jets on 700 daily flights to over 126 cities in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, according to the company's website. ___ Casey reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press journalists Michael Sisak in New York, Jack Dura in Bismarck, North Dakota, Alex Veiga in Los Angeles, and Jim Morris in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed reporting.
