A swift response by flight attendants, crews and emergency workers was among the key reasons why no one died in Monday’s plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport, an expert and officials say.
Relatively new and specialized fire trucks, acquired by the airport in recent years, also made a difference, officials say.
“Everybody walked away, and to me, that is a miracle on that airplane,” John Gradek, an operations and integrated aviation management professor at McGill University, told CBC Radio’s Metro Morning on Tuesday.
“That is a credit to the firefighting team at Toronto Pearson, the pilots and the aircraft manufacturer.”
Gradek said he has seen lots of crashes result in “total destruction.” In this case, the number of injured now stands at 21, with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Two of the 19 people taken to hospital remain there, according to Delta Airlines.
“This was a good news story,” Gradek said.
Broken and burned aircraft still on tarmac
Delta Airlines flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto, operated by subsidiary Endeavor Air, crashed when it landed at about 2:15 p.m. on Monday. Eighty people, 76 passengers and four crew members, were on board. Two runways remain closed as an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) continues. The broken and burned aircraft remains on the runway where it flipped.
At a news conference on Tuesday, Deborah Flint, president and CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters that the airport is grateful that there was no loss of life or life-threatening injuries suffered by anyone on the plane in the accident.
“Flight attendants, flight crews and airport emergency workers and responders mounted a textbook response, reaching the site within minutes and quickly evacuating the passengers,” Flint said.
Flint described the workers as “heroes.”
Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken told reporters that firefighters responded quickly.
“Upon arrival, the crew did witness spot fires,” Aitken said. “They were able to quickly knock down the spot fires using the aircraft rescue firefighting apparatus. Once the fires were knocked down, the crews did make entry and performed primary search and rescue.”
Fire crews encountered jet fuel, flames
Aitken added that most passengers had evacuated the plane when the firefighters arrived. The passengers were escorted to a secondary location to be triaged.
“Upon arrival, there was jet fuel and there was flames. We have specialized aircraft rescue firefighting equipment that carries water foam and dry chem and it is utilized to smother and cover up the jet fuel. We do have the appropriate equipment and the appropriate training to mitigate that emergency,” Aitken said. “We train for such events.”
The crash comes nearly 20 years after another major crash at Pearson that also ended with no fatalities.
On Aug. 2, 2005, Air France Flight 358 skidded off the runway at Pearson after trying to land during heavy rain and lightning. All 297 passengers and 12 crew members on the plane survived the crash, an outcome described by then-federal Transportation Minister Jean Lapierre as a miracle.
Since then, the technology used to respond to fires at the airport has changed. CBC News visited the Toronto Pearson Fire Station last spring to learn more about their new state of the art fire trucks, called Rosenbauer ARFF Vehicles, specifically designed for aircraft rescue. Those specialized trucks were put to use during Monday’s response.
The trucks are equipped with tires that allow for off-road capabilities regardless of weather conditions, which allows firefighters to get to any runway in under three minutes. A typical city fire truck can produce 454 litres of water per minute, while this fleet in comparison has the capacity to produce 8,865 litres per minute.
Pearson International Airport has added a new model of fire truck to its fleet, which is designed to handle the unique challenges of airport emergencies. CBC’s Talia Ricci rode along with fire crews to see what the new trucks can do.
‘Grateful for my own life,’ passenger says
For one passenger, Pete Koukov, there was no warning that the plane was in trouble.
“Everything was completely fine” until the wheels hit the ground, he said.
Koukov said the plane slid to its right side and passengers were suddenly hanging upside down by their seatbelts. He then lowered himself to the floor. He said he was relieved to get off.
“I was happy to touch down and get off. Thankfully, the flight crew did an amazing job,” told CBC News Network on Tuesday.
When he was getting out of the plane, two men helped to lower him down and get out of the plane.
“It didn’t feel like every man for themselves kind of situation. It was cool to see everyone work together and get off the plane together in an orderly, logical and safe way.”
Koukov said there was an explosion on the plane after he exited. “It was a big boom in the middle of the plane,” he said.
Koukov suffered a sore back in the crash, saying he is “relatively okay considering the circumstances.”
He is currently staying in an AirBnb and hoping to get his passport back even though it was left on the plane. He said he has been told by airport officials that passengers will be able to retrieve their belongings once the TSB investigation is over.
“No one died. Grateful for that and grateful for my own life, for sure,” he said.
“Yeah, just grateful to be here,” he added. “At the end of the day, everybody is going to be fine, which is pretty insane to say after a plane crashing and flipping over and on fire.”