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A Delta Airlines plane, carrying 80 people onboard - including four crew members, crash-landed at the Toronto airport and flipped upside down, leaving at least 18 passengers injured on Monday. No casualties have been reported in the incident, officials said. The incident took place when the Endeavor Air flight, from Minneapolis in the US, was landing in Toronto hours after a massive snowstorm had hit the country.
A video on social media shows the plane crash-landing on a snow-covered runway. Within seconds, a huge black smoke can be seen coming from the plane as it flipped upside down. Some dramatic images even showed people stumbling away from the upside-down CRJ-900 plane, shielding their faces from strong gusts of wind and blowing snow.
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Fire crews rushed to douse the aircraft with water as smoke wafted from the fuselage and as passengers were still exiting the plane.
All the injured passengers, including one child, have been taken to nearby hospitals either by ambulance or helicopter, officials said.
"The incident did not involve any other planes. Emergency crews were heroic in their response by reaching the site within minutes and quickly evacuating the passengers. Some of the passengers have already been reunited with their friends and their families," Toronto Airport Authority chief executive Deborah Flint said.
The cause of the accident is not yet clear.
The Toronto airport suspended all flights for at least two hours after the incident. While the flight operations have now resumed, the airport authority has said that the passengers are likely to witness long delays today.
Delta airlines' statement
Delta Airlines in a statement said that the CRJ-900 aircraft was involved in a single-aircraft accident at Toronto Pearson International Airport, adding that their primary focus is to take care of those impacted in the incident.
"Delta has activated its Passenger Inquiry Center for family and loved ones of customers involved in today's accident so they can connect with Delta for more information. In Canada, these individuals may reach out via 1-866-629-4775. In the United States, they may connect using 1-800-997-5454," it said.
The airline cancelled its flights to and from the airport for the rest of the day. "Delta is working to connect with customers whose flights have been impacted. Customers should also monitor the status of their flight via the Fly Delta app," it said.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian also expressed grief over the incident saying, "The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today's incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport."
"I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site. We are working to confirm the details and will share the most current information as soon as it becomes available. In the meantime, please take care and stay safe," he said.
The incident took place a day after a massive snowstorm hit eastern Canada on Sunday. Strong winds and bone-chilling temperatures could still be felt in Toronto on Monday when airlines added flights to make up for weekend cancellations due to the storm. "The snow has stopped coming down, but frigid temperatures and high winds are moving in...We are expecting a busy day in our terminals with over 130,000 travellers on board around 1,000 flights," the Toronto airport had warned.