Flights have resumed at Toronto鈥檚 Pearson airport, but two runways are closed as investigators from Canada鈥檚 Transportation Safety Board begin their work on what may have caused a plane crash Monday.
Pearson said flights are arriving and departing, but advised travellers to check the status of their flight before heading to the airport.
At least 18 people were injured after a regional Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis crashed upon landing in Toronto and flipped over around 2:30 p.m.
Paramedics said out of 80 people aboard Delta Air Lines flight 4819, at least three people, including a child, were sent to hospital with critical but non-life-threatening injuries. Others were reported to have minor injuries.
There were no reports of deaths in the crash as of Tuesday morning.
The plane arrived at Pearson amid blowing snow following a winter storm that hit the Toronto region over the weekend.
Videos posted to social media showed emergency crews hosing down the flipped-over aircraft with a damaged wing while passengers climbed out of emergency exits to the snowy tarmac.
Gusting winds up to 65 km/h and blowing snow were reported at the airport around the time of the crash.
Arrivals and departures at Pearson resumed by 5 p.m. on Monday, but the airport said delays were expected over the coming days as crash investigators did their work.
During a brief media statement on Monday evening, the airport authority鈥檚 CEO Deborah Flint praised the work of emergency crews in helping the 76 passengers and four crew members to safety.
鈥淭his outcome is due to their heroic work and I thank them profusely,鈥� she said.
In a statement posted to Delta鈥檚 X page, company CEO Ed Bastian said he was thankful for all team members at the site, as well as first responders.
The flight operated by the airline鈥檚 subsidiary Endeavor Air was involved in what Flint called a 鈥渟ingle aircraft accident鈥� around 2:30 p.m. as it landed at the airport.
In an update about an hour after Flint鈥檚, he said it was 鈥渞eally important that we do not speculate鈥� on the cause of the crash. 鈥淲hat we can say is the runway was dry and there was no crosswind conditions,鈥� he said.
Aitken did not take questions from reporters, either.
The figures cited by the two officials Monday evening were both lower than the 19 people the regional paramedic service reported injured earlier in the day.
A spokesperson with the Peel Regional Paramedic Services said Monday afternoon that a child with critical injuries had been taken to Toronto鈥檚 SickKids hospital and two adults, also with critical injuries, had been airlifted to other local hospitals. All injuries were non-life-threatening, said Supt. Lawrence Saindon.
An audio recording from the Pearson airport tower shows Delta Air Lines flight 4819 was cleared to land shortly after 2 p.m. and the tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow 鈥渂ump鈥� in the glide path from an aircraft in front of it.
There were no further conversations with the Delta flight until the tower confirmed that a plane had crashed, with air controllers quickly redirecting traffic to accommodate the crash scene, according to audio pulled from LiveATC.net, a website that records and archives air traffic communications.
Audio conversations from ground crews at the airport recorded a burst of commotion from workers at about the same time, with someone yelling at another person to 鈥済et off the phone,鈥� while another crew member described 鈥渁 huge emergency.鈥�
Several minutes later, air traffic control could be heard directing a medevac helicopter for landing, and noting there are people walking around the aircraft.
鈥淵eah, we鈥檝e got it,鈥� the medevac responds. 鈥淭he aircraft 鈥� is upside down and burning.鈥�
An aviation expert said it was very rare to see a transport-class airplane end up upside down in a crash during landing.
U.S. Marine Corps. veteran Colonel J. Joseph, who spent 29 years as a military aviator, said it is too early to speculate on what may have caused the crash but winds were notably strong in Toronto at that time.
Joseph, an aviation consultant based in Spanish Fort, Ala., said high winds would be challenging for pilots coming into Toronto. He added that the intact fuselage and survivors in the crash mean investigators have plenty of evidence to work with.
