Delta plane crash: What pilots think they might have gone wrong

• A Delta plane crashed and crashed upside down on Toronto on Monday.
• Airline pilots say strong intersections or runway debris could have caused a failure of landing gears.
• All 80 passengers and crew survived, probably thanks to the modeling of aircraft and air safety protocols.

The three airline pilots suspect a combination of incorrect landing, winter weather or debris may have caused a Delta Air Lines plane to crash and roll the belly up on Monday.

Former Delta captain Mark Stephens, who flew for the carrier for 30 years, told Business Insider that the video of the event shows that the proper landing gears fall within seconds of touch.

He said it seemed that the right arm then hit the ground, broke away from the plane and set fire to. The aircraft then spinned and came on an upside down.

“There was not just stopping this once everything that forces caused the gear to fail,” Stephens said. “The plane was not fully involved in possible flames because when the arm fell, it left behind the fuel and reduced the risk of a large spark. Snow and ice may have also helped to control the fire.”

The other two active airline pilots who sought not to be appointed because of the ongoing investigation and their employers’ policies regarding speaking with the media agreed that the video shows that the right dress is likely to fail during touch.

Investigators have not yet provided details of what may have caused the collision.

Excessive strength or debris could have damaged landing clothing

A strong stream and possible shear of wind, a sudden change in wind direction that could affect the height of a plane, could have placed high side force in the right gear while the plane landed. The airport was reporting relatively high gusts with 33 nodes at the time.

Wind fleece is a particular risk during the rise and landing that has caused plane collision in the past.

“I’ve had some really difficult landing,” Stephen said. “But I don’t think the dress will fail by a difficult landing if there weren’t many cycles.”

Airlines closely monitor landing cycles of landing, or whenever the wheels have gone up and down as part of their maintenance strategies. Airplane manufacturers design commercial aircraft equipment to withstand heavy landing, but these too have borders, Stephen said.

Stephen, who has a backdrop in engineering, said metal fatigue or cracking can cause a critical gear component to break down if the fault is lost during a maintenance control.

In 2018, an Airlines Airlines Southwest experienced an engine failure in which one of the fan blades broke down due to metallic fatigue, making the engine fragments escape and hit a passenger window. One person was killed.

Delta Bombardier CRJ900 Jet involved was about 16 years old, but could have flown for many more years with proper maintenance and maintenance.

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Stephens said waste on the runway could be another culprit.

“If you hit an ice block, I think it can make the dresses fail because you are sitting in 150 miles per hour,” Stephens said. “It can also be something as little as a small piece of metal that made the tire fail.”

In 2000, an Air France Concorde aircraft hit a small piece of debris during lifting, making tires explode and send fragments flying to the bottom of the plane. Damage to flight control systems and an explosion of the fuel tank led the aircraft to collapse, killing 113 people.

Pilots are likely to have minimal reaction time

Stephens said the aircraft that landed in Toronto was likely to have flown at an angle to treat strong intersections. “Crab”, as the usual technique is known, involves running the airplane nose slightly in the wind to stay on the course and adjust just before it landed.

Given the direction of the winds in this case, the procedure would include landing on the right -handing device first and holding the right arm down at the intersection before being placed in the main left coating followed by nasal gear for a touch complete.

“The pilots are looking straight on the runway, and they are trained not to pull that arm, so for me, they are doing what they have to do,” Stephens said.

Between the failing landing gear and the arm that hit the land, he estimates that the pilots would not have time to insert the engines in full force for a second landing attempt.

The Director General of the Authority of the Great Toronto airports, Deborah Flint, said at a Tuesday press conference that the airport experienced “extreme” winter conditions over the weekend.

Monday was considered “clear”, though the snow was reported to be blowing at the time of the collision.

Strong safety procedures and aircraft design helped everyone survive

Stephens said that Delta CRJ900, which was operated by the full affiliate of still Air, is very strong and its strong air frame is likely to contribute to survival despite the fire and the harmful rolling.

“That is why you always wear a seat belt and pay attention to security instructions,” he said.

For the aircraft to be certified, US regulators require manufacturers to show that everyone can be evacuated in 90 seconds or less. This includes hearing the crew instructions and leaving the bags behind.

A Japan Airlines plane crashed into another aircraft while landing and setting fire in January 2024. Experts said a detailed security video paired with passengers after crew instructions to leave bags contributed to all 379 people who survive.

Ignoring crew commands can be deadly.

In 2019, a Russian aircraft three times smaller than the one that set fire to landing, but people were seen evacuating with carriers. It is believed that the slow escape caused some of the 41 deaths of people.

Delta said on Tuesday that 19 out of 21 people injured in the collision were released from the hospital. The Canada Transport Safety Board is leading the investigation, with the help of US agencies and bombardier.