Canadian investigators find black boxes after Toronto plane crash, probe continues

Canadian investigators said on Feb 18 they recovered the so-called black boxes from a regional jet that flipped upside down upon landing in windy conditions a day earlier at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, injuring 21 of the 80 people on board.
Investigators from Canada’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB) are leading the probe to figure out why the CRJ900 aircraft operated by Delta Air Line’s Endeavour Air subsidiary went belly up on Feb 17 at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, the country’s largest airport.
TSB senior investigator Ken Webster said in a video that the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder were sent to the agency’s lab for further analysis into what happened to Flight DL4819 from Minneapolis-St Paul International Airport to Toronto.
Delta Air Lines said on Feb 18 that 19 of 21 passengers taken to local hospitals after a Toronto plane crash a day earlier have been discharged.
Greater Toronto Airports chief executive Deborah Flint said at a press conference that the two remaining hospitalised passengers did not face life-threatening injuries.
“It’s really, really incredible when you see that aircraft – it just makes you really thankful for the all safety checks,” Ms Flint said, praising the flight crew and first responders.
It’s not yet clear what happened to the plane.
Air crashes are usually caused by multiple factors.
The 16-year-old CRJ900, made by Canada’s Bombardier and powered by GE Aerospace engines, can seat up to 90 people. At least one of the two wings was no longer attached to the plane, video footage showed after the accident.
Toronto Pearson Airport said earlier on Feb 17 it was dealing with high winds and frigid temperatures as airlines attempted to rebound after a weekend snowstorm dumped more than 22cm of snow.
The wreckage of the plane is expected to remain on the airport grounds for potentially another 48 hours and two of Pearson’s runways will remain closed until it is removed, Ms Flint said.
The Delta plane touched down in Toronto at 2.13pm (3.13am Singapore time, Feb 18) after an 86-minute flight and came to rest near the intersection of runway 23 and runway 15, Flightradar24 data showed.
The weather at the time of the crash indicated a “gusting crosswind and blowing snow”, the flight tracking website said.