Former FAA admin suggests ‘very rare’ events were at play in Delta plane flip

Published February 18, 2025 11:50am ET



A former Federal Aviation Administration official assessed that a “very rare” combination of weather and wind was likely to blame for Monday’s Delta Air Lines plane crash, in which an aircraft flipped as it was landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada.

Video of the Delta Connection Flight 4819, which arrived from Minneapolis, Minnesota, showed the CRJ-900 jet catching fire right after touching down on the runway. The aircraft then flipped and lost both wings. Former Deputy Administrator Dan Elwell said the runway appeared snowy and icy and that this crash occurrence so soon after the plane crash near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport could be the result of “happenstance.”

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