Delays at Toronto鈥檚 Pearson airport continued Wednesday as investigators worked to determine the cause of the fiery crash landing of a Delta Air Lines plane and crews began removing parts of the wreckage.
Two of Pearson鈥檚 five runways, including the 鈥渂usiest鈥� in Canada, remain closed, said the airport鈥檚 duty manager Jake Keating. The airport had capped departures throughout the day and a similar step had been taken to manage arrivals.
鈥淭his is put in place in an effort to sort of make sure that we鈥檙e not overwhelming the airfield and making sure that we鈥檙e maximizing our capabilities on the available runways that we have,鈥� he said in an interview with TV station CP24 Wednesday morning.
The airport鈥檚 website listed dozens of cancelled and delayed flights Wednesday. Sunwing Airlines said in a statement that it had to cancel several southbound flights departing from Pearson in order to 鈥減rioritize the safe return of customers鈥� currently delayed in various destinations.
Once the Delta planewreckage is removed, Keating said delays would likely persist as the airport inspected the runway to make sure 鈥渆verything is still in working order.鈥�
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Wednesday that the aircraft wreckage will be moved to a hangar at Pearson airport 鈥渢o be examined further鈥� and that its investigators will also examine the runway before it鈥檚 reopened. Investigators had already recovered the plane鈥檚 black box on Tuesday, and the agency said they will continue to interview people for the next several days as part of the probe.
All 76 passengers and four crew members survived Monday when Delta flight 4819, operated by its subsidiary Endeavor, crashed at Pearson.
Video shows the jet made a hard landing then tipped over, creating a fireball as its wing scraped along the ground before it went belly-up and came to a stop in a cloud of smoke. Emergency crews doused the plane as passengers climbed out of emergency exits and onto the snow-swept tarmac.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian praised the actions of first responders and the flight crew, while seeking to reassure nervous flyers.
鈥淚t鈥檚 horrifying when you look at the video,鈥� he said in an interview Wednesday with 鈥淐BS Mornings.鈥�
鈥淏ut the reality is that safety is embedded into our system. Air travel in the United States is the safest form of transportation and travel there is 鈥� period 鈥� and it鈥檚 because we train for events like this.鈥�
He called the crew operating the flight 鈥渆xperienced,鈥� adding that all pilots train for the conditions encountered Monday.
The airline said 20 of the 21 passengers initially sent to local hospitals had been released as of Wednesday morning.
The Transportation Safety Board has said it鈥檚 too soon to tell what led to the crash.
Kit Darby, a U.S.-based veteran aviator and flight instructor, suggested in an interview with The Canadian Press that gusty winds and possible mechanical issues with the landing gear may have been contributing factors in Monday鈥檚 crash.
A Toronto law firm specializing in aviation cases was retained by two Canadian passengers, said Vincent Genova, a partner at Rochon Genova. The firm also represents family members of passengers who were on the Ukraine International Airlines flight shot down over Tehran in 2020.
Genova said both clients in the Delta crash had suffered injuries, including one who he said went back to the hospital Wednesday over a possible head injury when the seatbelts released. Genova said he was also working with an American firm retained by U.S. clients.
鈥淲e鈥檙e probably going to start our own investigation to determine if there are any other parties that should be involved in potential litigation moving forward,鈥� he said in an interview.
