'A miracle on that plane': Swift emergency response credited for no fatalities in Pearson plane crash

A swift response by flight attendants, crews and emergency workers was among the key reasons why no one died in Monday's plane crash at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, an expert and officials say.

Relatively new and specialized fire trucks, acquired by the airport in recent years, also made a difference, officials say.

"Everybody walked away, and to me, that is a miracle on that airplane," John Gradek, an operations and integrated aviation management professor at McGill University, told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Tuesday.

"That is a credit to the firefighting team at Toronto Pearson, the pilots and the aircraft manufacturer." 

Gradek said he has seen lots of crashes result in "total destruction." In this case, the number of injured now stands at 21, with injuries ranging from minor to critical. Two of the 19 people taken to hospital remain there, according to Delta Airlines.

"This was a good news story," Gradek said.

Delta Airlines flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto, operated by subsidiary Endeavor Air, crashed when it landed at about 2:15 p.m. on Monday. Eighty people, 76 passengers and four crew members, were on board. Two runways remain closed as an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) continues. The broken and burned aircraft remains on the runway where it flipped.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Deborah Flint, president and CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters that the airport is grateful that there was no loss of life or life-threatening injuries suffered by anyone on the plane in the accident.

"Flight attendants, flight crews and airport emergency workers and responders mounted a textbook response, reaching the site within minutes and quickly evacuating the passengers," Flint said.

Flint described the workers as "heroes."

Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken told reporters that firefighters responded quickly.

"Upon arrival, the crew did witness spot fires," Aitken said. "They were able to quickly knock down the spot fires using the aircraft rescue firefighting apparatus. Once the fires were knocked down, the crews did make entry and performed primary search and rescue."

Aitken added that most passengers had evacuated the plane when the firefighters arrived. The passengers were escorted to a secondary location to be triaged.

"Upon arrival, there was jet fuel and there was flames. We have specialized aircraft rescue firefighting equipment that carries water foam and dry chem and it is utilized to smother and cover up the jet fuel. We do have the appropriate equipment and the appropriate training to mitigate that emergency," Aitken said. "We train for such events."