Miraculously, all 76 passengers and four crew members survived the accident. However, 18 people sustained injuries, with only a few reported to have suffered more serious harm.
โWe are very grateful there was noย lossย of life and relatively minor injuries,โ said Deborah Flint, CEO of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority.
One of the passengers on board the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto, John Nelson, recounted the terrifying experience of the plane flipping over upon landing.
Speaking to ABCย News, Nelson described the intense conditions, saying, โThe winds were whipping pretty hard and the runways were snow covered. There was no warning.โ
He recalled that the aircraft struck the ground with extreme force before bouncing slightly and tilting to the left.
โIt was just incredibly fast. There was a giant firewall down the side. I could actually feel the heat through the glass,โ Nelson recounted. โThen we were going sideways. Iโm not even sure how many times we tumbled, but we endedย upside down,โ he told ABC Newsโ George Stephanopoulos.
In another interview with CNN, he described the chaos onboard, saying, โIt was a surreal feeling. And then everyone was just like, โGet out! Get out! Get out!โโ
He added, โWe could smell jet fuel. Even now I smell like jet fuel.โ
Fortunately, all passengers and crew members managed to evacuate before the fire spread further.
Many have expressed amazement that the plane did not erupt into flames upon impact.
โThe fact this plane did not explode in flames because of the amount of jet fuel is nothing short of a miracle,โ one person commented on YouTube. โThank god all the souls on this flight survived.โ