1 of 2 | The remains of the Endeavor Air Bombardier CL-600-2D24 rests after one of its main landing gear failed and caused the aircraft to flip while landing at a Toronto airport on February 17. Photo by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada
March 20 (UPI) — Endeavor Air Flight 4819 descended quickly while landing at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Feb. 17, and its right main landing gear collapsed when it contacted the runway, Canadian investigators said.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board of Canada released the preliminary report on Thursday.
“At touchdown, the following occurred: the side-stay that is attached to the right main landing gear fracture, the landing gear folded into the retracted position, the wing root fractured between the fuselage and the landing gear, and the wing detached from the fuselage,” the report says.
The plane’s right wing contacted the ground and separated from the plane’s fuselage, which caused a “cloud of jet fuel” to be released and catch fire, the report says.
Further investigation needed
The investigators said the exact sequence of events is still to be determined by further examination of the fracture surfaces.
Wind speeds of 28 knots and gusts of up to 35 knots with blowing snow and 6 miles of visibility recorded at the time of the accident. The runway had been plowed prior to the landing attempt.
After the landing gear collapsed and the wing separated from the fuselage, the plane began to slide along Runway 23 and rolled to the right until it became inverted.
“A large portion of the tail, including most of the vertical stabilizer and the entire horizontal stabilizer, became detached during the roll,” the report says.
The aircraft then slid off the right side of the runway into snow-covered grass and stopped on Runway 15L near the intersection with Runway 23 and about 75 feet from it. All 80 passengers and crew the evacuated the aircraft.
The right wing and landing gear fully detached from the fuselage and slid about 215 feet further along Runway 23 before stopping.
Rapid descent triggered an alert
As the aircraft approached for landing at 2:12 p.m. EST, its airspeed was 145 knots while descending at a rate of 1,114 feet per minute.
A “sink rate” alert sounded 2.6 seconds before touching down, which indicated the aircraft was descending too quickly at more than 1,100 FPM while maintaining an airspeed of 136 knots, the report says.
A second before touchdown, the aircraft’s rate of descent was recorded as 1,110 FPM despite the prior sink-rate alert and was 1,098 FPM when the right landing gear contacted the runway and failed.
The aircraft was operated within its allowable weight-and-balance limitations and weighed about 73,000 pounds, including about 6,000 pounds of fuel, while attempting to land in Toronto.
The aircraft is a Bombardier CL-600-2D24. It was manufactured in 2008 and registered by Delta Airlines a year later.
The preliminary report only indicates the conditions leading up to and during the mishap
21 injured, none killed
Endeavor Air is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Airlines and Flight 4819 carried 80 passengers and crew, 21 of whom were injured during the crash. The flight originated in Minneapolis.
Among those injured, 18 were hospitalized, including two with serious injuries, but none died from their injuries.
During the landing, the aircraft’ first officer was at the controls and had 1,422.3 hours of flight experience, including 418.7 hours of that type of aircraft, the report says.
The flight’s unnamed first officer had less than the Federal Aviation Administration‘s minimum requirement for commercial pilots, ABC News reported.
She obtained am FAA waiver to fly commercial aircraft due to having earned an aviation degree.
The report does not say pilot error caused the crash, and the actual cause is yet to be determined.
Delta announced it is offering $30,000 to each of the passengers who were on the plane when the accident happened.