All passengers and crew on board a Delta Air Lines MHIRJ CRJ900 regional jet have been accounted for, after a landing accident in which the jet came to rest inverted.
Video images from the scene show the aircraft was substantially damaged, with its starboard wing separated and its vertical fin sheared off.
Preliminary indications suggest the jet, operated by Endeavor Air and registered N932XJ, had been arriving from Minneapolis, landing on Toronto Pearson’s runway 23.
There is no information on the number of passengers or the extent of any injuries.
Toronto Pearson airport’s operator says it is “aware of an incident upon landing” involving a Delta Air Lines aircraft arriving from Minneapolis.
“Emergency teams are responding,” it adds. “All passengers and crew are accounted for.”
Meteorological data for the time of the accident indicates winds from the west at 28kt, gusting to 35kt, and blowing snow.
The CRJ, operating flight DL4819, had been cleared to land at around 14:11, according to air-ground communications archived by LiveATC.
Shortly afterwards, a transmission from an unidentified individual stated: “There’s an airplane just crashed on 23.”
An Air Canada Rouge Airbus A321, in trail to the CRJ on the runway 23 approach, was then instructed to conduct a go-around.
One of Toronto’s tower controllers, who had been in communication with a medevac aircraft prior to the accident, subsequently discussed with its crew the possibility of deploying to the accident scene.
He gave the site of the accident as near the runway 23 threshold and close to the intersection of runways 23 and 15L. The medevac crew mentioned that the aircraft was “upside down and burning”.
