Almost two decades after the last one, there seems to have been another “miracle” at Pearson International Airport.
Seventeen people were injured, three of whom were hospitalized, when a Delta Air Lines plane crashed and flipped on the tarmac Monday afternoon at Pearson airport.
Officials are investigating what caused the plane, which was en route to Toronto from Minneapolis, Minn., to crash with 76 passengers and four crew members on board. All of the injured are expected to survive, according to Pearson airport CEO Deborah Flint.
It wasn’t the first time the GTA has had to respond to an air disaster. Here’s a look at some of the major incidents the region has dealt with since 1970:
AIR CANADA FLIGHT 621
The deadliest incident in Air Canada’s history began as a routine flight from Montreal to Toronto.
In less than an hour, Flight 621 had created a smoking crater in a Brampton field.
A brand-new Douglas DC-8-63, which Air Canada had acquired months earlier, was carrying 100 passengers and nine crew members on board when a series of errors led to the fiery crash on July 5, 1970.
While on approach to Pearson, the first officer accidentally deployed the ground spoiler mid-flight instead of after the plane had landed. As a result, the plane lost lift and landed hard on the ground before lifting off again with its fuel tank damaged and the right wing on fire.
Before the crew could circle around again for another landing attempt, the wing had failed and the plane spiralled to the ground at a “high velocity,” according to an incident report on the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives website.
Everyone on board perished and while the crash was blamed on pilot error, “substantial” design flaws surfaced during an inquiry into the crash, Medium reported.
It was the second fatal crash involving a Douglas DC-8 flight from Montreal to Toronto in a seven-year span after Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831 crashed near Montreal in November 1963, killing 118 people on board.
AIR FRANCE FLIGHT 358
It was considered a “miracle” that no one died on Aug. 2, 2005, when Air France Flight 358 crashed at Pearson airport.
The Airbus A340-314, which had departed from Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, landed in Mississauga during a storm that included multiple lightning strikes on the far end of the runway and heavy rain that reduced visibility, according to the BAAA incident report.
Regardless, the airplane made the landing attempt and touched down almost halfway down the 9,000-foot runway before coming to rest in a ravine.
All 297 passengers and 12 crew members were able to escape (12 of whom were seriously injured) before the plane went up in flames, which led then-federal transportation minister Jean Lapierre to describe the incident as a “miracle.”
An investigation into the incident ended with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada making seven recommendations related to standards and training for landings in deteriorating weather.
RAF NIMROD CRASH
A Royal Air Force Nimrod MR2 crashed into Lake Ontario during an air display at the Canadian International Air Show on Sept. 2, 1995, killing all seven crew members on board.
The plane’s crew, who were based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland, were taking part in the air show after an appearance at another event at CFB Shearwater in Nova Scotia.
Despite what was described as excellent weather at the time, the maritime patrol aircraft hit the water after performing a second “dumbbell turn” during its performance with the crew killed instantly on impact.
The resulting inquiry led to the RAF changing the way it selected display crews after highlighting deficiencies in the training regimen.
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OTHER FATAL INCIDENTS
— A Piper PA-31 Cheyenne crashed 11 km from the runway threshold at Pearson airport on Oct. 17, 1984, killing two passengers and a crew member.
— A Douglas C-47A cargo plane that had departed from Cleveland crashed on June 22, 1983, while on its final approach to Pearson. Both pilots were killed.
— Earlier that year, five people including Suncor president and CEO Ross Hennigar, died on Jan. 11, 1983, after their flight from Philadelphia crashed into a field while on approach to Pearson. The Rockwell Sabreliner 65 lost control, but an investigation was unable to determine the cause.
— A Howard 500 cargo plane crashed shortly after liftoff on July 9, 1981, while departing Pearson airport. The twin-engine aircraft stalled on its initial climb before crashing and bursting into flames, killing all three people aboard.
— An Air Canada-operated Douglas DC-9-32 flying from Ottawa to Vancouver, via Toronto and Winnipeg, crashed on June 26, 1978, after the crew decided to abandon the takeoff at Pearson. The plane overshot the runway and broke into three pieces, killing two of the 107 people on board.