A preliminary report into the Delta Air Lines flight that flipped upside down in a crash landing at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport last month shows the plane had been descending at a high rate of speed.
Twenty-one people were injured in the botched landing on Feb. 17.
The flight, which was arriving from from Minneapolis, was operated by Endeavor Air and had 80 people on board — 76 passengers and four crew members.
The report, released Thursday by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, did not disclose a cause for the crash.
In the landing, “the aircraft impacted the runway, the right wing detached, and a fire ensued,” the report said. The aircraft then overturned, leaving passengers dangling upside down in their seats, and slid down the runway inverted until it came to a stop.
Of the 21 injured, two were reported to have serious injuries, according to the report.
The report broke down a second-by-second play of the moments before the landing.
At 2:12:40, 3.6 seconds before touchdown, the rate of descent had increased. One second later the flight’s enhanced ground proximity warning system “sink rate” alert sounded, indicating a high rate of descent.
Then, 1.6 seconds before touchdown, the aircraft “was slightly below the glide slope” — a system that guides an aircraft down to the runway during landing for a controlled descent.
The right main landing gear of the plane made contact with the runway at 2:12:43.
At touchdown, a part of the right main landing gear fractured, the landing gear folded into the retracted position, the wing root fractured between the fuselage (the main body of the plane) and the landing gear, and the wing detached, “releasing a cloud of jet fuel, which caught fire,” the report said.
Then the plane slid on the runway and the body of the plane rolled to the right until it became upside down.
“A large portion of the tail, including most of the vertical stabilizer and the entire horizontal stabilizer, became detached during the roll,” the report said.
After coming to a stop, the passengers and crew were evacuated. Following the evacuation, aircraft rescue fire fighters entered the main body of the plane.
Shortly afterward, “an explosion occurred outside the aircraft in the area of the left wing root,” the report said. The safety board said the cause of that explosion is still under investigation.
“For everyone at Endeavor Air and Delta, nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people. That’s why we remain fully engaged as participants in the investigation led by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada,” Delta said in a statement Thursday. “Out of respect for the integrity of this work that will continue through their final report, Endeavor Air and Delta will refrain from comment.”
