Preliminary report offers moment-to-moment account of February’s Delta crash in Toronto

The Delta Air Lines flight from the Twin Cities that crash-landed in Toronto and flipped upside down in mid-February did so after the airplane descended quickly and part of its right landing gear broke, according to a preliminary report from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB).

The TSB report, released Thursday, offers a step-by-step account of the Delta Air Lines flight that crashed on the tarmac Feb. 17 in Toronto after arriving from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Authorities are still working to determine the exact sequence of events, according to the report. The precise cause of the crash remains undetermined.

The report says that after the CRJ-900 operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air touched down, a part connected to the right landing gear fractured and folded into a retracted position. The right wing fractured at the fuselage and landing gear as the wing detached and released a cloud of jet fuel, which caught fire.

Piloted by the first officer, the airplane overturned while sliding down the snowy runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport, according to the report. The wrecked airplane came to rest at the intersection of two runways.

All 80 passengers and crew survived. Two of those aboard suffered serious injuries, according to the TSB. All patients were released from the hospital within days.

According to the report:

Before the crash, the flight was uneventful, and the crew received clearance to approach Runway 23 for a landing. It was a windy day, and given the reported gusts, the approach was initially flown at an airspeed of 149 knots.

The airplane’s enhanced ground proximity warning system, designed to alert pilots to potential hazards on approach, detected a high rate of descent less than three seconds before touchdown.

Less than 1 second before touchdown, the aircraft’s indicated airspeed was 134 knots. Its bank angle was 7.1 degrees to the right, and the pitch was 1 degree nose up. The descent at that time was recorded at a rate of 1,110 feet per minute.

As the landing gear made contact with the runway, the plane banked 7.5 degrees to the right. A component called a “side-stay,” attached to the right landing gear, fractured and then folded into the retracted position.

The plane went into a slide along Runway 23, rolling to the right until it flipped upside-down, shearing off a large section of the tail. The plane slid off the runway, through a snow-covered grass median, and came to rest inverted on Runway 15L. The right wing, including the landing gear, had sheared from the plane and slid more than 200 feet down Runway 23.

Inside the plane, passengers and crew came to rest upside-down, suspended by their seat belts. Some of the passenger injuries happened when they released their seat belts to free themselves from the burning aircraft. Investigators were not aware of any safety belt failures.

When the evacuation of passengers began, damage prevented the flight deck door from opening for the flight crew. The pilots chose to use the escape hatch on the cockpit ceiling instead. “The hatch opening was close to the ground, which impeded the evacuation; however, with help from a passenger, the pilots were able to egress.”

At maximum weight, the shock struts for the CRJ-900 are rated to absorb 720 feet per minute when the airplane lands, according to the report. The rate of descent was nearly 400 feet per minute higher than that, although the plane was under its maximum rated takeoff weight.

Flight 4819’s weight was approximately 73,000 pounds at the time of the crash landing. The maximum weight allowed at takeoff is 84,500 pounds.

The left landing gear wheels were undamaged. Minor damage was found on the right strut, and marks on its outer cylinder showed evidence “of the strut bottoming out.” The outboard side-stay locks the landing gear in place and prevents collapse during landings.

A key point investigators will consider regarding the pilots is whether the airplane was above or below the reference speed at the time of landing, said Chad Kendall, a professor and flight instructor at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Pilots calculate approach speed on several factors, Kendall said, to include wind gusts and direction.

Kendall said investigators will continue to evaluate the maintenance and mechanical aspects and, more specifically, the side-stay assembly “to see if there were any defects or anomalies on that mechanical component.”

Kendall said the report shows both pilots were fully qualified and had “ample time” flying that type of airplane.

“There’s still a lot of information that needs to be looked at very thoroughly. It’s going to take some time,” Kendall said, adding that the “investigation is far from over” and a final report may come within a year or two.

Investigators reached the preliminary findings in part by conducting simulated landings in a CRJ-900 and examining the wreckage, which was in a hangar bay in Toronto.

The investigation will take time as “many questions remain unanswered,” TSB officials said in a statement, adding: “The findings for this investigation will be found in the final report and will be crucial in preventing similar accidents from happening in the future.”

TSB Chair Yoan Marier called Thursday’s report a progress update that outlines the facts gathered so far. He said accidents “rarely stem from a single cause” and are often “the result of multiple complex, interconnected factors.”

“This is a complex investigation, with many areas still requiring a deeper dive before drawing a conclusion,” Marier said in a statement. “Should any significant safety deficiencies be identified during the investigation, rest assured that it will be communicated with Delta.”

In a statement Thursday, Delta spokesperson Morgan Durrant said the airline and its Endeavor Air subsidiary would refrain from comment as the TSB continues its investigation.

“For everyone at Endeavor Air and Delta, nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people,” Durrant said.

Authorities have not released the identities of the cockpit crew. Delta has said the captain, hired in October 2007, has worked as duty captain and in pilot training and flight safety roles.

The first officer completed her flight training in April after being hired in January 2024 and has flown for Endeavor since then, exceeding the mandatory federal minimum standards.

Before the crash, the first officer had more than 1,422 hours of total flight time experience, nearly 419 of them spent on the CRJ-900, the most common plane in Endeavor Air’s fleet. She was on the fifth day of a five-day work cycle, according to the report, and started her day flying from Cleveland, Ohio, to MSP.

She conducted three round-trip flights at Toronto Pearson in the 30 days before the crash.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian has defended the company’s pilots, saying there is “one level of safety at Delta” among its mainline and regional pilots.

“All these pilots train for these conditions,” Bastian has said. “They fly under all kinds of conditions at all of the airports in which we operate. So, no, there’s nothing specific with respect to experience that I’d look to.”

The report says investigators will continue several lines of inquiry, including: a metallurgical examination of the wing; certification of the landing gear and wing structure; evacuation procedures; the design and structure of the flight deck door; landing techniques, hard landings and pilot training; and organizational and management factors.

At least 12 personal injury lawsuits have been filed in federal court related to the crash. Among the passengers to sue are a Texas man and Minnesota woman seeking claims for physical injuries and emotional distress.

Authorities have said most of the 21 people hurt suffered sprains, head injuries, headaches, anxiety and nausea due to jet fuel exposure.