View gallery
Amid a string of aviation accidents, American travelers started to wonder if it could get any worse. On February 17, 2025, a Delta Air Lines flight crash landed upside down at Toronto’s Pearson Airport in Ontario, Canada. Miraculously, all passengers and crew members were able to evacuate the aircraft, but videos of the crash caused widespread concern across social media.
Below, learn about the history of inverted plane crashes and how many aviation accidents have happened so far in 2025.
Toronto Delta Plane Crash Details
On February 17, Delta Air Lines Flight 4819 (operated by Endeavor Air) crashed landed at Toronto’s Pearson Airport at around 2:45 p.m. after flying in from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. There were 80 people on board, including flight crew members, and all survived. However, multiple people were hospitalized from injuries.
Authorities claimed that there were no cross-wind conditions nor snow despite the fact that Toronto residents faced a snowstorm days prior. Multiple outlets reported that wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour were active when the flight was landing.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) noted that Canada’s Transportation Safety Board would lead the investigation of the crash.
Has a Plane Ever Crashed Upside Down Before?
Apparently, yes, there have been inverted crashes and/or aviation incidents before the 2025 Toronto one. According to John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida, told WDSU News that they’ve “seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it’s pretty rare.”
When the plane crashed, it was missing its right wing, which Cox pointed out if that was the case in flight, then the plane was “going to have a tendency to roll over.” The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation into the Delta crash.
“Those are going to be central questions as to what happened to the wing and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder,” Cox said. “They will be found, if not today, tomorrow, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will read them out and they will have a very good understanding of what actually occurred here.”
How Many Plane Crashes So Far in 2025?
According to the FAA’s “Statements on Aviation Accidents and Incidents” report, there have been more than 15 plane crashes and collisions involving both commercial and non-commercial aircrafts as of February 2025.
In 2024, there were around 30 aviation incidents that resulted in more than 400 fatalities, according to Forbes.
