Message from Toronto Pearson President

Team Pearson and Partners:

Today, I’m proud of the flight crew, flight attendants, our emergency first responders, operations, and media team and all those who responded and brought their very best at a time when quick action was needed and lives were on the line involving the crash of Delta Airlines flight 4819.

From what we know at this time, our Airport emergency workers mounted a textbook response, reaching the site within minutes and assisting in evacuating the plane. Three of our stations in the AOA responded with 10 aircraft fire and rescue apparatus, assisted by Mississauga Fire, Peel Paramedics and Peel Police.

There were no fatalities, and the 18 injured passengers were taken to local hospitals. At this time, there are no life-threatening injuries. This is exactly what we train for and I am immensely proud of the Pearson team.

Team members and the lead investigator from Transportation Safety Board of Canada is already on site, and the full team will be onsite tomorrow to start the investigation. We will fully support their investigation. In the meantime, we do not yet know the cause, and it is important to not speculate on what happened.

My thoughts and prayers go out to the injured passengers and their families tonight on behalf of the airport, everyone who works at Pearson and, indeed, our entire community. We will be in recovery mode with expected delays and traffic management programs for the next few days. Please take care of each other as well as our passengers during this time.

We will provide more information when it becomes available as well as conduct a thorough lessons learned process, as this will always make us better.

For now, let me simply say: We are so grateful for safe lives tonight, and I thank you for how you prepare and for all that you do, every day and night.

Deborah Flint
President and CEO