At least 18 people were injured in the crash at Canada’s Toronto Pearson International Airport, according to authorities. The Delta Air Lines flight with 80 people on board from Minneapolis ended upside down on the runway, and one passenger described hanging “like bats” inside the aircraft after it crashed.
Soucie said the crash “could have been much worse,” drawing a comparison with a 1987 accident in Denver that killed 28 people when a DC-9 aircraft flipped over in similar circumstances.
Improved safety and stronger, more secure seats made the biggest difference in the two incidents, the analyst said.
Soucie also pointed out that in 1987, the wings stayed on the crashed aircraft, destroying it after it had flipped over.
In Toronto, however, the wings broke loose by design, “and that’s a good thing,” the analyst said.
