TORONTO – At least three passengers were critically injured Monday afternoon at the Toronto Pearson International Airport after a Delta Air Lines plane crash-landed on the runway.
Photos taken at the airport showed the Delta aircraft belly up on the runway with emergency crews around the vehicle.
Airline officials said Flight 4819 originated from Minneapolis and the incident on the runway happened at 3:30 p.m. ET.
“Toronto Pearson is aware of an incident upon landing involving a Delta Airlines plane arriving from Minneapolis,” airport officials said in a statement on X. “Emergency teams are responding. All passengers and crew are accounted for.”
In a statement, Delta said the flight was operated by Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, and was carrying 80 people – 76 passengers and four crew.
A spokesperson for Ornge Air Ambulance Services said three patients were transported to area hospitals with critical injuries.
One pediatric patient was taken to The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto with critical injuries via Ornge Critical Care Land Ambulance. A man in his 60s was taken to St. Michael’s Hospital with critical injuries and a woman in her 40s was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre with critical injuries, Ornge spokesperson Joshua McNamara told FOX Weather.
According to FlightAware data, the flight was traveling around 135 mph just before landing, which is within normal limits. A standard landing pattern was taken by the pilot with no abnormal readings before landing, according to FlightAware.
While it is not yet clear if weather played a role in the crash, the incident happened as extreme cold and wintry conditions unfolded across the northern tier of the U.S. and in Canada. Winds were gusting to about 40 mph at the time of the crash.
No snow was falling at the time of the crash, but the gusty winds were blowing around the more than 8 inches of snow that fell at the airport over the weekend.
The crash remains under investigation.
