Why did a plane land upside down at Toronto’s Pearson Airport? This expert has a theory

Emergency response vehicles are seen nearby an upside down Delta Air Lines plane, which was heading from Minneapolis to Toronto when it crashed on the runway at Pearson International Airport, in Toronto, Monday, Feb. 17, 2025. (Teresa Barbieri/The Canadian Press)

Following a plane crash at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Monday, an aviation expert tells CTV News that several factors could have led to the plane landing upside down.

At least 18 passengers are injured after a plane crashed at Canada’s busiest airport, with one child and two adults in critical condition.

Read the latest on the plane crash.

What causes planes to flip?

Aviation expert Phyl Durdey says it’s not yet known what happened in Toronto, and in many cases finding out what happened can take time.

But Durdey said often wind and precipitation are a factor in these cases.

He said a windsock visible in video captured at the scene of the Toronto crash suggested “a pretty strong crosswind.”

“We’d just have to see what the black boxes say,” Durdey said.

While it’s not yet known whether weather conditions led to the Toronto crash, recent runway incidents involved other factors such as wheels not fully deploying, including in the case of a crash last December in South Korea.

That same month, the collapse of a plane’s landing gear as it touched down in Halifax caused an engine fire. In January, the Transportation Safety Board said a blown tire was to blame for the incident.

A United Airlines plane caught fire during takeoff at the Houston airport two weeks ago, after the wing sparked fire due to an engine problem.

Durdey said the most hazardous parts of flights are when planes are close to the ground, either during takeoff or landing.

Figuring out what went wrong

The Transportation and Safety Board of Canada will oversee the investigation, assisted by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

Their focus will be getting all the records of the aircraft before the incident occurred, according to Durdey.

Transport Canada will investigate all the maintenance records, pilot training records on their last recurrent training, ATC transcripts and conversations between air traffic control, and recover the black boxes.

Durdey called the aircraft, a CRJ-900, “very reliable.”

“I’ve flown a simulator for this aircraft,” he said. “It’s really great handling, so I don’t know exactly what went wrong.”

‘A miracle’

“It’s a miracle that there were no fatalities,” Durdey said.

Durdey said he believes the incident would have been “pretty violent” inside the aircraft, so there is potential for some back and neck injuries.

Initial response

The airplane crew is well trained when reacting to an emergency, Durdey told CTV News.

When an aircraft stops during an emergency, he said, the first order of business for flight attendants is protecting passengers and evacuating the plane within 90 seconds.

Durdey said specialized airport equipment, similar to a fire truck with a cannon filled with fire retardant on it, is kept at the airport for emergencies like this.

“The emergency equipment is located at different areas throughout the airport, so that way, it doesn’t matter where the incident happens, someone will be able to get there within a minute and a half,” Durdey said.