The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has released a preliminary report about the Delta Air Lines crash at Pearson airport in Toronto on Feb. 17 that sent 21 people to hospital.
The report, released Thursday, says the plane’s proximity warning system issued an alert indicating a high rate of descent less than three seconds before it touched down.
“It is too early to draw conclusions as to the causes of this accident,” the board said in a news release Thursday. “A full investigation report, which will include the TSB’s analysis into why the accident happened and the Board’s findings, will be released in due course.”
The flight, operated by Delta Air Lines subsidiary Endeavour Air, took off from Minneapolis with 76 passengers, two flight crew members and two cabin crew members. The aircraft was a CL-600-2D24 (Regional Jet Series 900) manufactured by Bombardier Inc. in 2008.
Prior to the crash, the flight “proceeded uneventfully,” the report said.
The first officer was the pilot flying the plane. At the time of the crash, she had around 1,422 hours total flight time, including 418.7 hours on the type of aircraft involved in the incident, the report said.
The captain, who was the pilot monitoring for the flight, had 3,570 hours total flight time at the time of the crash, including 764 hours on the same aircraft type.
Right landing gear fractured after touchdown, report says
At 2 p.m, winds were gusting to 35 knots in the area, the report said. After flight crew received clearance to land at Runway 23 at Pearson airport, they flew the approach at 149 knots, “given the reported wind gusts,” it said.
Around 2.6 seconds before touchdown, a “sink rate” alert sounded, “indicating a high rate of descent,” the report said. The alert came from the plane’s enhanced ground proximity warning system.
At the time the alert sounded, the plane’s airspeed was 136 knots, the report said.
Less than a second before touchdown, the aircraft’s indicated airspeed was 134 knots and its ground speed was 111 knots. Around 2:12 p.m., the right main landing gear touched the runway.
Using videos and air traffic controller data, CBC’s Lauren Bird breaks down the key moments in the crash landing of Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
“At touchdown, the following occurred: the side-stay that is attached to the right [main landing gear] fractured, the landing gear folded into the retracted position, the wing root fractured between the fuselage and the landing gear, and the wing detached from the fuselage, releasing a cloud of jet fuel, which caught fire,” the report said.
“The exact sequence of these events is still to be determined by further examination of the fracture surfaces.”
The plane then began to slide along the runway, eventually going off the right side into a snow-covered grass area and coming to rest on Runway 15L, near the intersection with Runway 23.
Meanwhile, the right wing became fully detached from the plane and slid around 215 feet further along Runway 23.
Once the aircraft came to a stop, an evacuation began. There were 21 people injured among the 80 on board, with two people reported to have serious injuries.
“Passengers were hanging upside down in their seats, suspended by their safety belts, and many of the carry-on baggage and other items ended up on the aircraft ceiling,” the report said.
Some of the injuries happened when passengers unbuckled their belts and fell, the report said.
Aircraft rescue and fire-fighting (ARFF) crews arrived on scene around five minutes after the crash landing, the report said. The crews entered the fuselage after the plane was evacuated.
“Shortly thereafter, an explosion occurred outside the aircraft in the area of the left wing root,” the report reads. “The cause of this explosion has yet to be determined.”
The report concluded with a list of the current areas the board is focusing on for its investigation, including an examination of the landing gear and wings, landing techniques and pilot training, and flight deck door structure and design.
All of those who were hospitalized were released within days of the crash. At least two lawsuits have been filed in the United States, and a law firm in Canada has said that it’s been retained by several passengers.
In a statement Thursday, a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines and Endeavour Air said they would not comment on the preliminary report “out of respect for the integrity of this work that will continue through their final report.”
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