A preliminary investigation into last month's crash of a Delta Air Lines-operated regional jet at Toronto Pearson International Airport reveals the aircraft was descending at an abnormally high rate of speed before slamming into the runway, causing it to flip upside down and injure 21 passengers and crew members.
The report, released Thursday by Canada's Transportation Safety Board, details a sequence of mechanical failures and descent warnings in the seconds before the aircraft-operated by Endeavor Air-touched down on February 17. The flight, a Bombardier CL-600-2D24 regional jet, was carrying 76 passengers and four crew members from Minneapolis.
At 2:12:40 p.m., 3.6 seconds before touchdown, the aircraft's descent rate increased sharply. One second later, the onboard enhanced ground proximity warning system triggered a "sink rate" alert, signaling the dangerously fast descent. The report noted that at this point, the plane's airspeed was approximately 136 knots.
Just 1.6 seconds before landing, the aircraft was below the glide slope, the report found. Moments later, the right main landing gear contacted the runway, fracturing upon impact. The landing gear collapsed into the retracted position, leading to a structural failure of the wing root and the detachment of the right wing. Jet fuel spilled onto the runway and ignited, and the aircraft rolled to the right before sliding upside down off the runway.
Passengers found themselves suspended upside down by their seatbelts, with loose carry-on baggage and other items scattered on the ceiling of the cabin. Of the 21 injured, two individuals suffered serious injuries, and multiple passengers later reported physical and psychological trauma.
The captain and first officer had relatively limited recent flying time. The captain, who served as the pilot monitoring, logged just 3.5 hours in the prior 30 days and also worked as a simulator instructor. The first officer, who was flying the aircraft, had accumulated 418 hours on the type, out of 1,422 total flight hours.
Legal actions are mounting. A Minneapolis law firm filed lawsuits on behalf of nine Canadian passengers, citing "extreme bodily and mental injuries" and alleging the flight crew "failed to observe the most fundamental procedures for a landing approach." Toronto-based firm Rochon Genova also announced it had been retained by affected passengers and their families.
Aviation lawyer Andres Pereira, representing passenger Marthinus Lourens-who sustained a fractured knee and herniated discs-highlighted the crew's high descent rate and questioned the pairing of the two pilots. "Whoever scheduled these two individuals to fly together, it seems to me, has some questions to answer," Pereira said.
Delta Air Lines and Endeavor Air declined to comment beyond a brief statement, citing the ongoing 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."
