{"id":17569,"date":"2025-02-18T20:21:42","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T20:21:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/44-seconds-of-mayhem-video-of-delta-plane-landing-reveals-clues-about-toronto-crash-national\/"},"modified":"2025-02-18T20:21:42","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T20:21:42","slug":"44-seconds-of-mayhem-video-of-delta-plane-landing-reveals-clues-about-toronto-crash-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/18\/44-seconds-of-mayhem-video-of-delta-plane-landing-reveals-clues-about-toronto-crash-national\/","title":{"rendered":"44 seconds of mayhem: Video of Delta plane landing reveals clues about Toronto crash – National"},"content":{"rendered":"


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The Delta Air Lines<\/em> regional jet that crashed at Toronto\u2019s Pearson International Airport on Monday appears to have suffered a right main landing gear failure during a high vertical speed approach and hard landing, a veteran pilot says.<\/p>\n

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The pilot, who has flown the CRJ aircraft across North America for years, shared their assessment with Global News after watching videos of the aircraft\u2019s final approach prior to the crash multiple times.<\/p>\n

Global News is not identifying them because they are not authorized to publicly comment on aviation<\/em> incidents.<\/p>\n

Of the 76 passengers and four crew members aboard, 21 people, including a child, were injured after the Bombardier CRJ-900 flipped on the tarmac after it crashed.<\/p>\n

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Videos of the final moments before the fiery crash began circulating on social media on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

One 44 second video uploaded to YouTube shows the final approach of the Bombardier CRJ-900 that was shot from a spot on the right side of the aircraft somewhere at Pearson International Airport.<\/p>\n

The veteran pilot said this video appears to show the flight crew executing a very hard landing for reasons that aren\u2019t clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s flying very fast. The question is why,\u201d the pilot said.<\/p>\n

No \u2018flare\u2019 on landing<\/h2>\n

The pilot said that the video at 12 seconds does not appear to show the flight crew making an aviation maneuver known as \u201ca flare\u201d moments before landing.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"Delta<\/p><\/div>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tA Delta Air Lines CRJ-900 jet seen here on its final approach at Pearson International Airport in Toronto seconds before it crashed on Feb.17, 2025. The video depicted no flare,\u00a0 or raising of the jet\u2019s nose upward by the pilot, to slow speed before it touches down.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tYouTube\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Pilots perform a flare by pitching the jet\u2019s nose gently upward. This slows the aircraft to reduce the jet\u2019s vertical speed when it touches down and rolls down the runway to the terminal.<\/p>\n

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The jet will always flare a small amount when the leading edge slats on the wings are activated for landing, but the pilot said he didn\u2019t see a fully obvious pilot-initiated visual flare that slowed the jet.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou don\u2019t see the jet\u2019s nose floating upwards for one or two seconds before he touches down,\u201d the pilot said. \u201cThe question is: why did the vertical speed not drop? Where was the flare?\u201d<\/p>\n

The pilots were grappling with strong crosswinds at the time, the veteran pilot suggested.<\/p>\n

It is possible the Delta pilot\u2019s primary objective was to stay in the centre of the runway and flaring would have become a secondary issue as they were buffeted by gusts.<\/p>\n

Landing gear collapse<\/h2>\n

Because the jet was travelling fast and appears not to have been slowed by a flare before touchdown, the video shows at 17-18 seconds what happened next: the right main landing gear appears to have collapsed under the burden of the hard, fast landing.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tDelta CRJ-900 landing gear hits the ground at 17 seconds in the video and the main right landing gear appears to fail.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tYouTube\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

The video shows the right wing then struck the ground at high speed as the jet hurtled down the runway.<\/p>\n

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At 20-21 seconds, it appears the right wing was then sheared off, the pilot said.<\/p>\n

Passengers who survived the crash have also since spoken of a very hard landing before the aircraft lost control and flipped.<\/p>\n

However, the aircraft\u2019s left wing remained initially intact.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\"DElta<\/p><\/div>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tOne of the jet\u2019s wings is still visible at 19 seconds into the video.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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\n\t\t\t\t\tYou Tube\t\t\t\t<\/cite>
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\u201cThe right wing is broken, but the left wing is intact and it\u2019s going fast enough to produce lift and still wants to fly. That\u2019s when the plane flips upside down due to a lift imbalance.\u201d<\/p>\n