Delta Plane Flips Upside Down in Toronto Landing, 15 Hurt 2025

Fifteen people were injured, three critically, in the accident, though no one perished, based on initial reports. The regional airliner, which was flying from Minneapolis/St. Paul to Toronto-Pearson International Airport on Monday, had 76 passengers and four crew on board, Delta said.

Passengers described a surreal turn of events, when an apparently routine approach turned into sudden chaos. Footage on social media showed the aircraft slamming down hard on the tarmac and being engulfed in smoke and a burst of flames. As it tumbled down the runway, a fireball erupted from the left side of the plane, passenger John Nelson told CNN in an interview.

“When we hit, it was just super hard, like a hit on the ground and the plane went sideways,” said Nelson, who was seated in row 10, just in front of the wing. “I believe we skidded on our side and then flipped over on our back.”

Television images showed the Bombardier CRJ900, missing its tail and one wing, resting on its roof on the runway, with smoke billowing from its underside.

Nelson said he and a passenger next to him were dangling upside down, still strapped to their seats, when the plane stopped. They evacuated as quickly as possible through the rear of the airplane, where emergency personnel were already waiting.

“It was mass chaos,” he said. “We kind of let ourselves go to hit the ceiling, which is kind of a surreal feeling, and then everybody was like, ‘Get out, get out, get out.’ We could smell jet fuel. Even now I smell like jet fuel.”

Three passengers are in critical, non-life threatening condition, while the other 12 sustained mild to moderate injuries, according to Peel Region’s paramedic services. Two of the critically injured passengers were transferred to Toronto hospitals via air ambulance, and one of the critically injured passengers is a child who was transferred to Toronto’s SickKids hospital, according to the paramedic services.

The incident continues a bad start to the year for air safety in North America. Ten people died aboard a commuter plane that crashed in Alaska earlier this month. In late January, 67 people died after a regional jet operated for American Airlines Group Inc. and a military helicopter collided mid-air near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, and days later, a medevac plane crashed soon after takeoff in Philadelphia, killing the six people aboard and one on the ground.

“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport,” Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in the statement. “I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site.”

The regional jet, built by Bombardier Inc., was operated by Endeavor, a wholly owned unit of Delta. The crash in Washington last month also involved a CRJ plane, though the slightly smaller 700 variant. Nobody survived the midair impact.

The Toronto airport was closed shortly after the incident. Flights are being diverted to other airports, including Montreal.

The US National Transportation Safety Board will send a team to assist the Transportation Safety Board of Canada with its investigation, it said in a statement.

Photograph: Emergency personnel at the scene of a Delta Airlines plane crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17, 2025; photo credit: Katherine KY Cheng/Getty Images

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