Delta Plane Crash: Survivors Recount Harrowing Moments - 'We Were ... Hanging Like Bats'

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Passengers aboard Delta Flight 4819 experienced sheer terror as their aircraft flipped mid-landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport, slamming into the runway and erupting in flames. Survivors described the moments of panic, desperation, and unity as they hung upside down in their seats before scrambling to escape. Their firsthand accounts shed light on the dramatic emergency landing and the emotional toll it left behind.

Delta Flight 4819 departed from Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport on Monday and approached Toronto Pearson International Airport shortly after 2 p.m. local time. Strong winds buffeted Toronto throughout the day, with air traffic controllers warning pilots of wind gusts reaching 38 mph.

Within two minutes of the approach, the aircraft flipped. A fire erupted as the plane tumbled and slammed into the runway . Passengers John Nelson and Peter Koukov, spoke with CNN, and described the terrifying moments when the plane overturned, leaving them suspended in their seats.

'We were ... hanging like Bats'

“When we got finished, I was upside down, everybody else was there as well,” Nelson said.“We tried to get out of there as quickly as possible.”

Fire engines raced onto the tarmac, spraying thick sheets of white fire retardant over the aircraft's battered fuselage.

Another survivor Koukov recalled the eerie stillness after the plane stopped moving.“We were upside down hanging like bats,” he said. He managed to unbuckle himself and stand upright on the ceiling of the plane, but said many others needed assistance to get down from their seats.

Panic and urgency to escape

Nelson described the scene as chaotic, with passengers scrambling to release themselves from their belts.“People were yelling for them to get out of the plane, and they made a beeline towards an opening,” he recounted.

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