A Delta Air Lines plane had to make a crash-landing during a flight from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, flipping over on the ground at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday.
18 of the 80 people on board sustained injuries in the crash, including one child. All 76 passengers and four crew members were evacuated from the overturned CRJ900 twin-jet at around 2:15 pm ET on February 17.
Three air ambulance helicopters and two ground ambulances arrived on the scene to treat the largely minor to moderate injuries.
Three people, including a child, a man in his 60s, and a woman in her 40s, were transported to local hospitals for further treatment.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada announced it would be “deploying a team to investigate [the] aircraft accident” in a post to X. The reason for the crash is not yet known.
#TSBAir is deploying a team to investigate an aircraft accident at Toronto / Lester B. Pearson International Airport, ON. The TSB will gather information and assess the occurrence. #media
— TSB of Canada (@TSBCanada) February 17, 2025
This isn’t the first time that a serious plane crash has taken place at Ontario’s Toronto Pearson International Airport. Here’s a look back at the 2005 Toronto plane crash that took place almost two decades ago.
What happened in the 2005 Toronto plane crash?
The Airbus A340-313E was coming in to land at Pearson airport in the afternoon of August 2, 2005, when it overshot the runway by around 300 metres and crash-landed into the nearby Etobicoke Creek at an estimated speed of 92mph.
All 309 people on board Flight 358 survived but twelve people sustained serious injuries. The accident was later highlighted as one that demonstrated the importance of well-trained flight attendants during an emergency.
Jean Lapierre, the then-Canadian Minister of Transport, referred to Flight 358 as a "miracle" because everyone on board survived, even though the plane itself was destroyed.
The global press dubbed the accident the "Miracle in Toronto", the "Toronto Miracle", the "Miracle' Escape", and the "Miracle of Runway”.
A later investigation ruled that the harsh weather conditions caused the incident, as well as poor landing decisions made by the flight crew.
In particular, the visibility was poor, the assigned runway was shorter than other options. The plane touched down nearly halfway along the short runway and the thrust reversers – used to slow down the motion of the vehicle – were not on full power for a full 17 seconds after touchdown.
