Former Pilot Says It's a 'Miracle' That Upside-Down Delta Plane Didn't Combust 'Immediately' After Flipping Over

A former pilot expressed disbelief and joy on Monday at the fact that the Delta Airlines plane that flipped over when landing at the Toronto Pearson International Airport didn't end up as a "mass casualty" event.

Speaking to Fox News, Mike Coffield said it's "remarkable to me that the airplane is upside down like this." And while he acknowledged that there are some injuries (15, including three in critical state), he highlighted that "for the airplane not to have immediately caught on fire and have mass casualties, it's truly a miracle."

Asked about the role winds played in the incident, Coffield said that with "cross-winds you end up lowering a wind into it." "You could have chapped that wing on the runway. It could have bounced hard on the runway. You sure don't want to land on the nose," he added.

The plane, Delta Flight 4819, had departed from Minneapolis at 11:47 a.m., local time. It carried 80 people and was operated by Endeavor Air, Delta's regional subsidiary. Toronto Pearson authorities confirmed the incident in a publication on social media, adding that "all passengers and crews are accounted for." "Emergency teams are responding," authorities added.

Federal Transport Minister Anita Anand said she's closely following what she described as a "serious incident." The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) also released a statement confirming that the crash happened while the plane was landing. It added that the "Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates," according to Fox News.

Incidents involving aircraft have proliferated over the past weeks, among them a crash between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington in late January, where 67 people died. Six other people died days later after a small medical plane crashed in Philadelphia, and two more last Saturday after a single-engine aircraft crashed into the woods in Georgia. Moreover, a private jet owned by Vince Neil, the lead singer of Mötley Crüe, was involved in a plane crash with one fatality and one injured, Rain Hannah Andreani, last Monday.