{"id":18188,"date":"2025-02-26T09:25:50","date_gmt":"2025-02-26T09:25:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/i-was-sure-we-were-going-to-die-delta-passenger-shaken-by-pearson-crash-landing\/"},"modified":"2025-02-26T09:25:50","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T09:25:50","slug":"i-was-sure-we-were-going-to-die-delta-passenger-shaken-by-pearson-crash-landing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/26\/i-was-sure-we-were-going-to-die-delta-passenger-shaken-by-pearson-crash-landing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I was sure we were going to die\u2019: Delta passenger shaken by Pearson crash landing"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Nate Richie\u2019s plane ride last week to Toronto was \u201cuneventful\u201d \u2014 until it wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

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Richie, who was one of 76 passengers on the Delta Air Lines flight that crash landed<\/a> at Toronto Pearson International Airport last week, said that incident shook him to the point where he decided it was worth the four-day drive to him Florida home rather than fly.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plane started wobbling and sliding sideways and that\u2019s when I knew we were in trouble. My first thought was we\u2019re going to slide off the runway into a field,\u201d he told Global News.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of screaming, loud noise from the wing that was ripped off and exploded. \u2026 You lose track of time but my immediate thoughts went to my wife, my children, my grandchildren, my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\tNate Richie was one of 21 Delta passengers taken to hospital after the plane crashed at Pearson Airport last week.\t\t\t\t<\/span>
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The Transportation Safety Board of Canada continues to lead the investigation into the cause of Delta\u2019s Endeavor Flight 4819 crash, which happened in the afternoon on Feb. 18.<\/p>\n

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All 76 passengers and four crew members survived when the plane, arriving from Minneapolis, skidded on the tarmac and burst into flames.<\/p>\n

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Richie told Global News there was \u201ca lot of confusion\u201d inside the cabin at that time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were obviously inverted. We\u2019re hanging upside down in our seats. \u2026 The only thing you could do was to release your seatbelt and drop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added while he was helping other inverted passengers get out of their seats, he started to smell jet fuel.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could see it running down the windows of the plane, almost like rain. You could see it pooled up outside the window as if we were like laying in water,\u201d Richie said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt that point, I was sure that we were going to die, that we were not getting off the plane.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Richie credited the flight attendants with \u201cjumping into action,\u201d and said everyone helped each other to get off the plane.<\/p>\n

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After calling his wife to let her know what had happened and that he was OK, Richie said he and the other passengers gathered near a fire truck and huddled together in the frigid cold.<\/p>\n