The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) has published its preliminary report into the Delta Connection crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) earlier this year.
While the report draws no conclusions as to the cause of the crash, investigators set out a detailed timeline which focuses heavily on the Mitsubishi CRJ900’s descent.
The dramatic crash on February 17, 2025, saw the aircraft, which was operated by Endeavour Air on behalf of Delta Connection, overturn in flames while landing in Toronto, resulting in 21 of the 80 people onboard suffering injuries.
Despite the injuries, two of which were deemed serious, the resounding feeling was that the 76 passengers and four crew members had been incredibly lucky to escape with their lives.
Approach sequence
Due to reported wind gusts as the CRJ900 approached Toronto Pearson following a flight from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport (MSP) the aircraft was flown at 149 knots.
Around 13 seconds before touchdown as the aircraft was descending through 153 feet above ground level (AGL) the TSB said the CRJ900’s “indicated airspeed increased to 154 knots whereas the ground speed did not change appreciably, consistent with a performance-increasing wind gust”.
“The pilot flying pulled back the thrust levers, and as a result, over the following 5 seconds, N1 decreased from 64% to approximately 43%, where it remained until touchdown. The air speed began to decrease,” the TSB report said.
At a height of 50 feet the “rate of descent had increased to 1114 feet per minute (fpm)” from 672 fpm around 14 seconds before.
“One second later (2.6 seconds before touchdown), the EGPWS alert “sink rate” sounded, indicating a high rate of descent. The aircraft’s indicated airspeed was 136 knots, its ground speed was 111 knots, and the rate of descent had remained at about 1100 fpm. The bank angle increased to a 4.7° right bank. The engine thrust was steady at approximately 43% N1,” the TSB report explained.
1.6 seconds before touchdown the aircraft’s indicated airspeed was 136 knots, and its ground speed was 111 knots.
“The aircraft was slightly below the glide slope, but on the visual segment of the approach and tracking the runway centerline. The rate of descent had increased to 1072 fpm, and the bank angle was 5.9° to the right,” the TSB said.
Less than one second before touchdown, the TSB said that the CRJ900’s indicated airspeed was 134 knots, and its ground speed was 111 knots.
“The bank angle was 7.1° to the right, and the pitch attitude was 1° nose up. The rate of descent was recorded as 1110 fpm,” wrote the TSB investigators.
The moment before touch the TSB added that “the right main landing gear (MLG) contacted the runway. The aircraft was in a 7.5° bank to the right with 1° of nose-up pitch and 3g vertical acceleration, at a rate of descent of approximately 1098 fpm (18.3 fps).”
Touchdown
The TSB explained that as the Delta Connections flight reached touchdown the “side-stay attached to the right MLG 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 exact sequence of these events is still to be determined by further examination of the fracture surfaces,” the TSB added.
As was seen in video footage of the incident the aircraft then began to slide along the runway and rolled to the right until it became inverted.
A large portion of the tail, including most of the vertical stabilizer and the entire horizontal stabilizer, also broke away from the aircraft.
For those wondering how the Delta plane crash in Toronto took place, here’s a new video of exactly what happened. pic.twitter.com/eSGvxcMSr6
— Brian Krassenstein (@krassenstein) February 18, 2025
Aftermath
As the aircraft came to rest on runway 15L the right wing, including the right MLG, became fully detached from the aircraft and slid approximately 215 feet further along.
The crew and the passengers immediately began evacuating. However, the pilots could not use the flight deck door, and they were forced to use the escape hatch on the cockpit ceiling which was now positioned towards the ground.
The TSB report said that some of the injuries sustained by the passengers occurred when they unbuckled their safety belts and fell to the ceiling.
“It is important to note that at this stage in the investigation, it is too early to draw conclusions as to the causes of this accident. 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 TSB concluded.
