Jarring images of a plane flipped upside down, wings broken off, spread on social media on Monday afternoon after an apparent crash of a Delta regional flight while landing in Toronto (YYZ). Yet miraculously, there were no fatalities in the immediate aftermath of the latest troubling accident involving a commercial airline.
The flight in question was Delta 4819, operated by Delta's regional subsidiary Endeavor Air under the banner of Delta Connection, from Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) to Toronto on Monday. By Monday evening, Delta confirmed that 18 customers were taken to the hospital with injuries but that there were no deaths among the 80 people onboard – 76 passengers and four crew members.
ABC News reports that at least three people onboard suffered critical injuries. Everyone is expected to survive, according to the news outlet.
The Toronto airport remained shut down early Monday evening.
BREAKING- Toronto had a Delta flight flipped upside down. I got these photos from a friend on the plane. He’s okay. Minnesota to Toronto. pic.twitter.com/DeSoYAlsVo
— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) February 17, 2025
The cause of the incident was not clear. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will lead an investigation, though U.S. officials representing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said both agencies were heading to Toronto to assist.
Tracking data for the flight from FlightRadar24 shows a relatively normal flight to the Toronto airport before it landed around 2:13 p.m. EST.
Photos and video from the aftermath show the Delta Connection jet completely upside down on the tarmac and surrounded by snow, its tail largely severed, and both wings ripped off. Emergency responders were spraying down the jet as passengers exited the upside-down plane.
A Delta flight carrying roughly 80 passengers from Minnesota appears to have crash landed at Toronto Pearson Airport. No casualties have been reported as of this time. Numerous photos and videos have been released showing passengers safely exiting the plane, which flipped upside… pic.twitter.com/YWjztVufla
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) February 17, 2025
Aviation is the safest form of transportation in the world – and it's not even close – and it keeps getting safer. Yet travelers' confidence has been rattled after a handful of recent incidents, including the horrifying mid-air collision of a military helicopter and American Airlines regional flight near the Washington, D.C.-Reagan (DCA) airport, which killed all 67 people onboard the two aircraft.
That was the first crash with fatalities involving a commercial U.S. airliner since 2009.
This is a breaking news story, check back for details.