Miraculous Survival of All Passengers in a Fiery Plane Crash at Toronto's Pearson Airport
In a fiery crash that saw a Delta Air Lines plane skid down a runway, flip over, and lose a wing, all 76 passengers and four crew members miraculously survived with minimal injuries. The dramatic incident occurred when Delta Flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
Aviation specialists, while attempting to understand the survival of all on board, have directed attention to three critical factors: the landing gear, wing, and fuselage of the plane. The aircraft was a Bombardier CRJ-900, a Canadian-built, 16-year-old narrow-body plane known for its reliability on flights between mid-sized cities.
Chris Finlayson, a former pilot for Endeavor Air, suggested that a slightly high landing angle could have resulted in the main landing gear impacting the runway too harshly. Passenger Brian Erickson corroborated this, describing a particularly hard landing preceding the plane listing and veering to the right.
John Nance, an aviation analyst, having reviewed footage of the landing, noted that the stress induced by the landing angle could have led to the collapse of the CRJ-900's right landing gear. Following this collapse, the starboard wing of the plane scraped the runway and was subsequently detached from the fuselage.
Meanwhile, passengers inside the cabin could feel the heat from a fire outside while the plane slid down the runway. John Nelson, a passenger, vividly described a "giant firewall" and the intense heat he felt through the glass. Aviation experts speculate that the immediate loss of the wing, which carried half of the plane's fuel, might have preserved the cabin's structural integrity and thus, the passengers' safety.
Ella Atkins, a Virginia Tech aerospace professor, explained that the wing snapping off could have prevented the fuselage from becoming the weakest point and consequently, crumpling and twisting. As the plane finally came to a halt, passengers found themselves suspended upside-down, held securely by modern seatbelts designed to endure such severe impacts.
The efficient response of the crew and airport firefighters was another crucial factor that ensured the survival of everyone on board. Erickson and others reported that everyone was helping their neighbor, which showcased the instinctive response of the crew and passengers to ensure everyone's safety.
Despite the overwhelming smell of jet fuel in the cabin, all passengers and crew members managed to exit the plane safely within ten minutes of the crash landing. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is currently investigating the cause of the crash, a process expected to take several months.