Delta Air Lines flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, was en route from Minneapolis St Paul airport when the incident happened at around 2.45pm local time. Toronto Pearson said of the 80 people onboard, 76 were passengers and four were crew.
In total, 18 people were taken to hospital. One child and two adults are reported to have suffered critical injuries. "We are grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries," said Deborah Flint, chief executive of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
Flint also praised the emergency services for their "textbook" response to the incident, which she said helped ensure there was no loss of life.
Images and footage from the scene show the aircraft, a Bombardier CRJ-900, lying on its back inverted a full 180 degrees. The airfield is blanketed in snow following several days of freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall in Ontario, including more than 20cm at the airport over the weekend.
However, Toronto Pearson fire chief Todd Aitken said that while efforts to investigate the crash were at an early stage, the runway had been dry and there was no cross-wind conditions when the plane attempted to land.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada has despatched a team to Toronto Pearson airport and will lead the investigation. Delta has also deployed a response team, it confirmed, adding senior figures from Endeavor Air would be in attendance at the airport too.
“The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto Pearson International airport,” said Delta chief executive Ed Bastian. “I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site."
Endeavor Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, which operates a fleet of 130 regional jets to more than 100 destinations in Canada, the US and the Caribbean.
