A part of the Delta Air Lines aircraft that flipped while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport caught fire moments after firefighters onboard leaped from the wreckage, as seen in a dramatic new video of the aftermath. Delta Flight 4819, traveling from Minneapolis to Toronto, landed upside down on the runway on Monday afternoon.
According to airline officials, all 80 passengers and crew members were safely evacuated. However, at least 18 people have been hospitalized with serious injuries following the crash landing. Emergency teams quickly arrived at the scene, where the wreckage, partially engulfed in flames, had slid along the ground, causing damage to part of the wing and tail.
Horror in Toronto
The fire was mostly put out after being sprayed with water, as crews searched through the plane, which remained overturned on the runway.
As two firefighters jumped from the plane's emergency exit into the piles of snow left by a weekend storm in Toronto, a section of the aircraft near them suddenly erupted in a quick burst of flames, as shown in the footage.
🚨🚨BREAKING: Yet another passenger plane has crash landed, this one a Delta plane that flipped upside down with 80 passengers at Toronto Pearson Airport. Miraculously, no fatalities have been reported.
— Really American 🇺🇸 (@ReallyAmerican1) February 17, 2025
The chaos continues under the Trump Admin.pic.twitter.com/F8kDk4sgr8
As one firefighter turned back to help his colleague, the fire was extinguished just as swiftly as it had ignited. More firefighters quickly arrived to help, and more water was sprayed onto the plane as a precaution, according to the video.
Strong winds can reignite fires even after they've been mostly put out — a phenomenon seen often during the peak of the Los Angeles wildfires in early January. Winds can also carry leftover embers, spreading the fire to new areas.
Avoiding Death
This came as it was revealed that all passengers escaped the plane and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport's chief executive said.
Strong winds, gusting up to 40 mph (65 kph), blew snow across the area as the flight from Minneapolis, carrying 76 passengers and four crew members, attempted to land on a dry runway around 2:15 p.m. Officials said that the cause of the crash was still under investigation.
"We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries," Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters.
The air traffic control recording from Toronto Pearson International Airport reveals that the flight was given clearance to land at around 2:10 p.m. local time. As the aircraft approached, the tower cautioned the pilots about a potential disturbance in air flow along the glide path.
Authorities are investigating to determine the exact cause of how the Delta plane ended up overturned on the runway.
