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Delta Plane Crashes, Flips Upside Down At Toronto Airport; Judge Worries Attempts To Block DOGE Lack Evidence; Soon, U.S., Russian Diplomats Begin Talks To Ending War In Ukraine; Soon: Official Update On Toronto Plane Crash. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired February 17, 2025 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[18:00:00]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news. A stunning crash landing leaves a Delta plane upside down on the tarmac in Toronto. We're awaiting new information on the injured, the evacuation, and what may have caused this latest airline emergency.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

We're following major breaking news right now. A Delta flight from Minneapolis flips upside down during a crash landing at the Toronto airport. Officials now say all 80 people on board were evacuated. At least 15 of them are injured, including a child.

CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean is joining us now. He's got the latest. Pete, we just learned that we're going to get an update from officials in about, what, 30 minutes or so. What do we know this hour?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: And that update will be key, Wolf, as we keep getting in incredible image after incredible image. And this story really developing all the time, this Delta Flight 4819 operated by Endeavor Air, it's a wholly-owned regional airline front by Delta Airlines, was coming into land on Runway 23 at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Pretty windy day there, winds gusting up to 35 knots, about 40 miles per hour. And you can see the evacuation that was successful, with a capital S, right there on the runway at Toronto Pearson.

Folks coming out through the R1 door just behind the pilot's bulkhead there at the backside of the cockpit in the front of the first class cabin, and then the mid wing exit where they were able to get out and essentially walked away from this crash.

I want to show you this incredible new video taken from the evacuation inside the plane that was inverted, the floor, now the ceiling, the bins, the overhead bins, now on the floor. And I want you to watch this now. This is actually the first time I'm seeing it too. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything, drop it. Come on. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: The instructions there from the flight attendant, drop it, drop everything, drop it, that is critical, especially in a evacuation like this. You want to leave everything behind and not hamper your way out of the airplane, especially because we saw scenes of this plane on fire. The black smoke was pouring out almost right away as the airport rescue and firefighting crews came up with incredible rapidity, hats off to them for putting out what appeared to be a fire there, at least on where the right wing used to be. That is where the fuel is stored for an airplane like this CRJ-900.

The configuration of this plane, 76 seats and all of them were full, four members of the crew, so 80 people in total. We've seen reports vacillating between 15 and 18 injured 2 to 3 with critical injuries. But pretty incredible that this full flight, essentially everybody leaving with their life, a very different story compared to 19 days ago when we were covering the disaster, the midair collision over the Potomac River, where all 67 people lost their lives. A really incredible and miraculous outcome here, Wolf.

BLITZER: Certainly true. Pete, stay with us. I want to bring in some more of our aviation experts right now for some serious analysis.

Peter Goelz, how could a plane like this end up flipping the way it did?

PETER GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, we won't know for sure until the Canadian Transportation Safety Board does their investigation. But as Pete indicated, gust winds, there were gusts upwards of 40 miles an hour. It could easily have clipped a wingtip and catapulted down the runway. It's happened before, and it is extraordinary that everybody got out of that plane alive.

BLITZER: Mary Schiavo, have you ever seen a plane upside down on the runway like this? What do you think may have happened?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, not exactly like this, but similar. And as Peter said, in those cases, in those other accidents, one was Asiana in San Francisco, one was United Airlines in Sioux City, and then a couple smaller planes.

[18:05:04]

What happened is they came in on Asiana, they clipped a seawall, and then they didn't come in straight and level and one wingtip hit the runway and then the plane cartwheeled. Same thing in Sioux City, they had a gust of wind right as they came in. It was a long explanation leading up to that. But the wingtip hit and then they flipped. And then in some other accidents, and that was the same thing. And in others, it's where they have exited the runway and encountered something, such as an embankment or other equipment that then caused them to come inverted.

But in a scene like this, it is where a wingtip is hit. In many cases, it breaks the wing off. The wingtip is hit and the plane rolls. And fortunately here, no fire. In those other ones, there was fire.

BLITZER: Yes. Pete Muntean, I want to play a little bit more of that new video of the evacuation once again. The slide clearly did not deploy here. Talk about the process of evacuating an upside down plane.

MUNTEAN: You know, I don't know if a CRJ like this even has slides, Wolf. It is really critical to get out because seconds mean lives. And everybody here escaped with their life. We saw in that first image there in the first few frames of video the overhead bins, now the floor, and folks clearing them to try and get out of that over wing emergency exit to get out onto the runway and into the biting cold, about 18 degrees Fahrenheit there in Toronto. Not cowering in the wind chill.

This is something that is pretty harrowing and this is a good reminder that flight attendants are not just there for your convenience. They're also there for your safety. There are aviation's first responders. We know it was a crew of four. So, two pilots, two flight attendants trying to get everybody out and away from this airplane, in some cases can be a ticking time bomb. Fire is very serious, and we know there was at least some smoke, which means fire in an airplane like this and the airport firefighting and rescue crews did a marvelous job of putting it out very quickly. But a fire is as bad as serious as they can get in aviation. It's on a scale of 1 to 10, that's really an 11. So, to get people out quickly and safely without many serious injuries is really key.

Important to remember, a lot of injuries can happen after the plane comes to a rest. So, taking off your seatbelt when you're now hanging from the seatbelt in your seat upside down can cause injuries too. When you release it too soon, that's when people get head and neck and spine injuries. It can be very dangerous. So, it's really, really critical to pay attention to what the flight crew is telling you.

And you have to imagine the terror that, that the passengers were feeling here was probably a pretty bumpy approach. But then they're in a dark passenger cabin with what appears to be maybe at least one side blocked. The left side of the airplane looked at least partially blocked based on the way the angle of the plane is rolled there, and trying to get out of only one set of emergency exits. This is clearly not a very ideal situation and everyone did a very good job getting out.

BLITZER: Yes, that's very important. Peter Goelz, we know at least 15 people were injured, 2 critically injured, 80 people in total were on board, 76 passengers, 4 crew members. What does the relatively low number of injuries tell you?

GOELZ: Well, it clearly underscores the effectiveness of 16G seats, Wolf. These are seats that have been mandated since the mid 2000s of rule, final rule in 2009, that said that aircraft have to have seats that can withstand a 16G impact, which this clearly was. And by having those seats, passengers remain secure and in place if their seatbelts are on tight. Previous to that, we saw numerous accidents where passengers survived the impact on the ground but were thrown helter-skelter within the cabin and many died. So, this is a real tribute to a government regulation that saved lives.

BLITZER: Yes. The key is to have your seatbelt on and to have it on tight to make sure that you're protected.

Mary, strong winds were reported around the time of the crash earlier today in Toronto. How much could that have played a factor in all of this today?

SCHIAVO: It could be a huge factor. And as Pete was just reading off the weather conditions and what the plane was facing, this aircraft, I was on one of these same ones going into LaGuardia, and this is how I happen to look up the limitations. The crosswind limitation on landing is 35 knots, if the runway is dry and clear and clean braking action.

[18:10:00]

If you don't have good brake -- on ice on the runway, your cross when limitation is 15 knots. If they had enough to get down and they were coming into land you know, they could have been in the right, but at the last minute got a bad gust that upended them. And I've had that happen to me when I'm flying and it's terrifying. I literally had the plane set up on one wingtip.

Now, I was lucky it didn't catch the wingtip. But if that happened right as they hit the runway, even if they were within their aircraft limits, there wouldn't be much they could do about it except try to fly out of it.

BLITZER: Yes, the winds are very, very critically important. I was flying into Washington-Dulles Airport last night. It was really windy and the plane was bumping up and down as we were coming in. Fortunately, it was a safe landing and all of that.

Pete, let me play a little bit more of that air traffic control transmission from before the crash in Toronto. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Toronto tower, Endeavour 4819, on the ILS2-3.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Endeavour 4819, Toronto tower, wind 270, 23, gust 33. Clear to land runway 2-3. Might get a slight bump in the glide path, there will be an aircraft in front of you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear to land 2-3, Endeavor 4819.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Pete, what could the air traffic controller have meant when he said, and I'm quoting now, slight bump in the glide path? What does that mean? MUNTEAN: Let's go through it sort of line by line. That's the airplane, Endeavor 4819 or Delta 4819, you buy a Delta ticket, but the flight is operated by Endeavor Air, checking in with the tower controller saying that we're on the approach to runway 2-3, meaning they're lined up. They were on the ILS. That's instrument landing system, essentially a radio beam that gets you lined up with the runway and on a glide path in a stable approach. And the data shows that the approach looked okay, may have been a little bit bumpy, but it looked like they were stabilized, they were on altitude, they were on speed, looked okay.

The tower controller then gives them a weather report, essentially telling them the winds, winds 270 at 23, gusting 33. So, that means winds out of the west at 23 knots gusting 33 knots, so about 40 or so miles per hour. That's a pretty stiff wind and it's at an angle to the runway of about 40 degrees. It has about a 40-degree bite into the relationship, the heading of the runway. And, typically, in a crosswind, pilots will essentially, if this is the runway and the wind is coming from this direction, they'll point into the wind, it's called a crab, and essentially track straight down the runway, even though the airplane is pointed a different direction, or they may put one wing into the wind and slip down to try and make it so that they can stay lined up with the runway.

The wind here is key. And no doubt, investigators will look at the environmental conditions here to figure out if that was a factor. The data really drops off once the airplane gets over the runway. So, we can't exactly tell what took place and what caused this flight to roll over onto its back. That is something that investigators will be able to figure out from essentially the forensic evidence on the scene. The ground scars from where maybe the wing contacted and where the fuselage ended up, they're going to be able to piece that together. But they'll also try to figure out if the wind was a factor here and the conditions of the runway, which are really important, too, because there was a lot of snow that moved through. You can see a bit of snow. They're still on the runway. And if the runway was slick, that sort of adds the risk factors and things start piling on over and over again.

And so that's how an accident happens. There's a bit of a chain. It seems like there was no real thing to break the chain here. And this may have happened in a moment and the crew may have not been able to essentially fix the problem that was being posed in front of them. The good news here is that everybody escaped with their life and everyone did what they were supposed to do, getting out of the plane and onto the runway okay.

BLITZER: And the plane lands and then it flips upside down, really scary stuff. But, guys, thank you very, very much.

Just ahead, we'll have more on the breaking news, including that live update from officials that we're expecting to hear from in about 15 minutes. We'll have live coverage of that news.

Plus, the day's other major news, including a key court hearing over what personal data can be accessed by Elon Musk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:15:00]

BLITZER: We'll get back to our breaking news coverage of the Toronto plane crash in just a few moments. So, you're looking at live pictures from the Toronto airport. In just a moment, officials there are about to give an update at the airport. We'll bring that to you live as soon as that news conference begins.

But, first, very important developments here in Washington as President Trump's push to slash the federal government faces multiple challenges in court.

For more on that, I want to bring in our Senior Justice Correspondent Evan Perez. Evan, tell our viewers what you're learning.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a hearing, a very rare hearing on President's Day, Wolf, with Judge Tanya Chutkan, and she seems inclined to not grant a temporary restraining order that has been asked for by a number of state attorneys general. The reason, she says, is that she doesn't believe they've been able to prove that there is enough harm to those states from some of the actions done by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency.

I'll read you just a part of what Judge Kutch Judge Chutkan says in her -- she said from the bench today. She said, the court can't base -- can't act based on media reports. We can't do that. We can certainly take judicial notice of them but they can't form the basis, I don't think, of me finding that a temporary restraining order is warranted because of imminent harm.

Now, she said she obviously had read all these media reports, including reports on Friday that there were thousands of people who had received termination notices. What the states were asking for, Wolf, was for a restraining order stopping Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing the personal data of some of these government workers at the Office of Personnel Management and some of the other government, you know, offices here in Washington.

[18:20:07]

And what the judge says is that she's going to rule within 24 hours. But at this point, it does appear, she believes, that the states have fallen short of the proof needed for her to actually provide that temporary restraining order. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Evan Perez reporting for us on that story, thank you very much.

Other important news we're following right now, including in Saudi Arabia, where talks between top U.S. and Russian diplomats are set to begin within the next few hours. The early discussions on ending the war in Ukraine conspicuously excluding officials from Kyiv as well as European leaders.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is joining us live now from the Saudi capital of Riyadh. Alex, Secretary of State Marco Rubio met today with the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. What do we know? What's going on over there?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: And Mike Waltz, the national security adviser, and Steve Witkoff, the Middle East envoy, they were also there with the Crown Prince, and they had dinner afterwards. They spoke about regional issues, Middle East issues, we're told by the State Department. But, of course, Wolf, the main event is tomorrow, when the Americans will have this remarkable meeting with Russian officials, the first meeting of its kind in more than three years since this war in Ukraine began. The Saudis will be there as well in a mediating capacity. But it's going to be those three Americans I mentioned across the table from the foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and Yuri Ushakov, who is a presidential aide.

But this is as much about who is at the table as who is not, Wolf. The Ukrainians, most notably, are not. We heard from President Zelenskyy earlier today saying quite angrily, frustrated, that he hadn't been told about this meeting, saying that nothing will be decided about Ukraine without them there. And then the Europeans aren't there either. And we heard from Trump's Ukraine envoy, Keith Kellogg, just a few days ago saying that he doesn't believe that the Europeans should be at the table.

Now, that was softened a little bit, walked back a little bit by the secretary of state, Marco Rubio. Here's what he had to say yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: If it's real negotiations, and we're not there yet, but if that were to happen, Ukraine will have to be involved because they're the one that were invaded. And the Europeans will have to be involved because they have sanctions on Putin and Russia as well. And they've contributed to this effort. We're just not there yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARQUARDT: The Europeans have certainly contributed to that effort. The E.U. has actually contributed more than the United States. But what the U.S. is trying to do here is now get these talks jumpstarted, essentially on two tracks. Speak directly to the Russians, speak directly to the Ukrainians, try to get them eventually to the table. But the U.S. knows that that is going to take quite some time, maybe weeks or months away, and it's still a big if they can even pull this off, Wolf.

BLITZER: And, Alex, I understand that the French president, Emmanuel Macron, just spoke to President Trump after an emergency meeting with European leaders in Paris earlier today. What do we know about that?

MARQUARDT: Yes. Wolf, we're told it was a friendly call between the French president and the American president. The Europeans are very nervous about what is coming next. They feel like they are being left behind. We also heard from the British prime minister as well as the secretary general of NATO, both of whom acknowledged that Europe needs to do more. They need to spend more in terms of defense spending.

But the big question now, Wolf, is how are there security guarantees for Ukraine so that Russia doesn't invade Ukraine again? And the Europeans are saying, we can't do that without the U.S. There needs to be, in the words of several of those Europeans, there needs to be an American backstop. And that could include American troops inside Ukraine right now, Wolf, it is not clear whether President Trump is willing to do that.

BLITZER: All right, we shall see. Alex Marquardt reporting live from Riyadh in Saudi Arabia, thank you very much.

Coming up, we're standing by for that news conference in Toronto. Also coming up, a closer look at the type of plane involved in the crash over at the Toronto airport. We'll talk with a former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:00]

BLITZER: Any minute now, we're going to get an update on the crash landing of a Delta Airlines flight over at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Delta now says 18 customers have been injured.

CNN's Brian Todd is taking a closer look at the plane involved in this accident. What are you finding, Brian?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, the type of plane involved in this accident is very popular model, especially for short and medium haul flights, it is a CRJ-900 manufactured by a company called Bombardier. And Delta Airlines says these planes often have configurations for 70 to 76 seats. And we know from Delta that there were 76 passengers and four crew members aboard this plane. Delta says that this plane is almost 119 feet long with a flying range of almost 1,800 miles.

This is part of the CRJ series of smaller planes considered a real workhorse in regional aviation. In fact, these are often operated by regional carriers, even though they have the name and logo of the larger carrier on the plane itself.

Now, one note here. It was a Bombardier CRJ-700 plane operated by PSA Airlines that was involved in that deadly collision with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River on January 19th.

Now, this particular plane, we talked about it being operated by Endeavor Air, which is a subsidiary of Delta, which, you know, operates smaller planes on shorter routes for Delta.

[18:30:01]

Endeavor operates smaller planes on shorter routes for Delta. The New York Times, citing FAA records, says this aircraft in Toronto is about 16 years old. Now, we talked about this type of plane being a real workhorse. According to the flight tracking website, FlightAware, just yesterday, on Sunday, this particular plane in Toronto flew six different routes from about 6:00 A.M. Eastern Time until after 1:00 A.M. Eastern Time, starting in Indianapolis to Detroit, Green Bay back to Detroit, to Toronto, to New York and then to Cleveland. So, again, this is really just -- this was a workhorse plane, a lot of routes yesterday.

One other feature of this aircraft now in all commercial planes that we should discuss here, according to Peter Goelz, our analysts and other aviation experts, all commercial planes now are required to have what they call 16G seats. These are seats recommended by the NTSB a couple of decades ago that can resist just this kind of accident.

Now, before these kinds of seats were installed, seats would often come loose in these kinds of accidents. The seats could become -- could get ejected from the plane, then the passengers would be ejected. Now, because of the way the seats are attached to the frame of the aircraft, they often stay in place in these kinds of accidents. Wolf, we don't know this for sure, it could be that those 16G seats may have saved lives on this flight.

BLITZER: That's what it certainly sounds like. Brian Todd, thank you very much for that update.

I want to get some analysis right now from the former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, Jim Hall. Mr. Hall, thank you so much for joining us.

These are truly incredible pictures showing this Delta plane upside down on the tarmac in Toronto. Thankfully, all the passengers survived. First of all, have you ever seen anything like this before?

JIM HALL, FORMER NTSB CHAIRMAN: Well, I have seen an aircraft inverted we had with an Alaska Air, a flight near Los Angeles years ago, but I have not seen one upside down. There was an accident in '79 in my hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee, with a DC-9, very similar to this. And that one, it was very lucky because there was a hole in the fuselage and the pilot of the passengers were able to escape.

This situation, a tip of the hat to the flight attendants, I mean, my goodness, the work that they have and training that they put in certainly paid off and saved the lives of the souls on this aircraft.

BLITZER: Yes, they certainly are amazing, those wonderful people, indeed. The NTSB, the National Transportation Safety Board, is leading a team of investigators right now to assist Canadian authorities with this investigation. If you are leading this investigation, Mr. Hall, what would you be looking for first?

HALL: Well, first I'd be looking how I can support the Canadian Safety Board. The Canadian Safety Board was modeled after the National Transportation Safety Board. And we worked very closely with our good friends in Canada on safety investigations. Swiss Air, which would be one of them, which you remember, and TWA 800. But they will lead the investigation. The thing that I don't think has been given enough attention, Wolf, that's not part of the details of the facts of this is just these extreme weather events. This is extreme weather. You know, our planes are certified for certain weather conditions. The operations are based on certain weather conditions. And now with what we're having with global warming and these extreme events, we may need to relook at the information that we have out of the Weather Service in terms of the operation of flights.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Jim Hall, thank you very much thanks for joining us.

Coming up, we're standing by for that news conference in Toronto.

Plus, we're following other important news as well, why four of Eric Adams' deputy mayors in New York City are now abruptly resigning.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:35:00]

BLITZER: Any minute now, we're going to get an update on the crash landing of a Delta flight at the Toronto airport.

We're also following a new revolt within the office of embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, four of his top deputies resigning amid fallout over Adams' cooperation with President Trump's immigration crackdown, at the same time that the U.S. Justice Department is moving to drop criminal charges against the mayor.

CNN's Kara Scannell is in New York for us, she's got details. What are these deputies saying about their decision to quit, Kara?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, these are four top deputies to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and that is about half of the deputy mayors that are in city hall. So, a significant resignation today.

Now, what three of them said in a joint statement was that they were resigning due to the extraordinary events of the last few weeks and to stay faithful to the oaths we swore to New Yorkers and our families. We've come to the difficult decision to step down from our roles.

Now, Mayor Adams says that he's disappointed that they're resigning but he is objecting to all calls for his own resignation. In fact, he is planning to run for reelection this year. The primary is just a few months away.

The questions are surrounding -- there are growing calls for his resignation. There's increased pressure on New York Governor Kathy Hochul to remove him from office, but Adams is saying that he is staying in place and that the function of the government will continue.

You know, he has denied this allegation that there is a quid pro quo between him and the Justice Department where they would drop this case in order for him to carry out Trump's agenda on immigration enforcement. You know, that is the move that was brought by the Justice Department late Friday night. That was after seven federal prosecutors, including the interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, all resigned because they were unwilling to sign this motion to dismiss.

[18:40:06]

That is where this case stands now. It still has to be signed off before a judge, because right now Adams is still facing these criminal charges, but he is starting to face a crisis at city hall and swirling questions around whether he can continue to lead the city. Wolf?

BLITZER: So, Kara, what's next in court for Mayor Adams?

SCANNELL: So, this motion to dismiss came late Friday night and now it's in the hands of Judge Dale Ho. He's a Biden appointee, he's fairly new to the bench, was sworn in 2023. It will be up to him to decide whether he wants to hold a hearing in this case or if he's going to sign off on the motion to dismiss without further questions.

Just today, Lawyers for Common Cause, a nonprofit group, asked the judge to appoint them to serve as the opposition to the prosecution's motion to dismiss, tell them to make the argument that this dismissal is not in the public's interest. Right now, this is all before the judge. We're waiting to see what his next move will be. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, we will find out. Kara Scannell, thank you very, very much.

Coming up, we're waiting for that update from officials on that Delta plane crash in Canada that left some 18 passengers injured. We're bringing that to you live as soon as it begins.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:45:26]

BLITZER: We're expecting an update any minute now on that plane crash in Toronto.

Listen to this real time recording of the control tower communicating with a medical helicopter pilot in the area as the emergency unfolded. Listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

OTHER PILOT: Airplane just crashed runway 2-3.

TOWER: 7105, pull up and go around.

MEDEVAC PILOT: We got permission from OCC to land north end and assist with this crash if needed.

MEDEVAC HELICOPTER: Where is the crash? TOWER: It's on runway 2-3, right at threshold, right at the

intersection there, 2-3 and 15 left.

MEDEVAC PILOT: Okay. We got it in sight. Can you tell us what type of aircraft it was?

TOWER: Yeah, it was an RJ-9.

MEDEVAC PILOT: Roger.

TOWER: LifeFlight 1, Medevac. Just so you are aware, there are people outside walking around the aircraft there.

PILOT: Yeah, we've got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BLITZER: I want to bring in CNN's Paula Newton. She's covering the story for us.

Paula, what are the next steps in this investigation?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, clear is actually getting the investigators to the scene. And they want to see for themselves. I mean, chilling to listen to those words there from inside that control tower.

Wolf, I've been inside that control tower. They train for this. But, you know, you don't quite train to hear that an airplane is upside down, and now burning.

The NTSB will also be participating in this investigation, but the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be the lead. Right now, we do know that Delta confirming that 18 people have injuries, three of them unfortunately critically injured, including one child. The fact that the medevac was there so quickly, though, and again, you can see in the video were looking at, Wolf, the emergency crews were there very quickly. And of course, obviously all the work that the crew did to get those passengers off the airplane.

This is what they've trained for at Toronto. Wolf, I was at the airport about an hour before this incident happened. I was taking off. You can see all the blowing snow. I can tell you the winds were fierce. The snow was blowing. The crews were working very hard to keep all of that off the runways.

And of course, we have no idea what was the cause of this incident. But no doubt, these investigators now going to the scene, some of them already likely there, will be looking at the wind conditions and also looking at all the blowing snow.

Toronto had gotten well over a foot of snow in the last week, and that was blowing around, and that they will continue to look at what added to this incident on the ground there, especially given the severe winter conditions.

BLITZER: Yeah. Severe indeed.

All right. Paula Newton, thank you very much. For more on the breaking news, I want to bring in CNN's Richard Quest right now.

Richard, you've covered these aviation disasters for many years.

What stands out to you most about this incident?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS EDITOR AT LARGE: Oh, quite simply, that incidents will happen some will be nastier than others, but that -- what stands out most is that it was survivable and everyone survived.

I mean, that is the long and short of it here, Wolf. And the investigation will look into issues. Obviously, the proximate reason why did the thing happen? Why did the plane flip over the wings, disengage along with everything else?

But just look at these pictures of people taking video as they're coming out the plane. This is another thing the investigation will look into the safety aspect that you're -- you're exiting a burning aircraft. And your priority is to take your phone out and film yourself doing it.

Now, we may be all very grateful that they have these pictures, because they help us understand what happened, to be sure. But that's the sort of thing that investigation will be focusing on as it tries to understand the nature of the crash. A, what happened? B, could it have been avoided? C, could the evacuation have been better handled? D, what changes need to be made in procedures, air traffic control, meteorological, evacuation of aircraft? All of those issues will be part of the Canadian investigation.

BLITZER: As we all know, Richard, there have been some very high profile plane incidents recently. Are we just hearing about them more? What's going on?

QUEST: No. I think if you look at the incident you're talking about, they all have unique factors that just happen to conflate at the same time. If one is suggesting a commonality, a lowering of standards, a somehow, the aviation is less safe today than it was a year or two ago. I don't think at this point there was any justification for making that statement or drawing that connection.

[18:50:04]

Far from it. Look at the D.C. crash. We are looking at air traffic control. You're looking at the helicopter being at the wrong altitude, all those sort of factors. The aircraft itself seems to have been doing a perfect approach.

Looking at this one. You're looking at incidents of what were they told, what was the weather? How did the pilots perform upon landing? How was the evacuation?

There is -- I'll be clear. I will be absolutely as clear as I possibly can be. There is absolutely no cause or connection to make the assumption that aviation is any less safe, as it was. Simple as that.

BLITZER: Should people be nervous about flying right now, Richard, especially if it's very windy outside or if it's snowing outside.

QUEST: No, no, not at all. But A, because we don't know what caused this incident to happen. B, because there will always be some incidents.

And C, I'm flying tomorrow. I'm here in Tokyo at the moment. I'm flying tomorrow from Tokyo down to -- across to Manila. Admittedly, there won't be any snow to worry about.

But no, absolutely not. Bad weather is always an influence and always a factor in aviation. Pilots train for it. Flight crews know how to land in it. Aircrew, flight attendants know how to evacuate planes.

No. Absolutely not.

If you are flying tonight in bad weather, you can rest assured that everything will have been done to make sure your flight is as safe as possible.

Now, Wolf, can something happen? Yes. Did something happen? Yes. But just because of that, you don't go and say the entire system, uh, unfortunately, as perhaps some would, would want to suggest, the entire system is riddled with faults and low standards. Not at all. Flying is as safe now as it's been.

BLITZER: And before I let you go, Richard, in light of the recent airline incidents, especially here in the United States, should Americans be concerned that the Trump administration just cut hundreds of FAA workers?

QUEST: We should be concerned that the changes being made to the FAA are being done so fast and in such a way that it is impossible, Wolf, I'll go to -- you know, hang, hang you out, hang your coat on this comment. It is impossible to make that level of change and to have done it in a considered fashion.

Anybody in their normal lives knows that companies make changes and they take weeks, and they take months to debate, to look at the unintended consequences, to look at how its going to play out. If you make rapid, deep, massive changes in organizations, you're going to make mistakes, and therefore, that will be true here as anywhere.

BLITZER: Richard Quest, as usual, thank you very much for your expertise.

And we'll be right back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:35]

BLITZER: We're standing by for an official update on that plane crash in Toronto. We'll bring that to you live in just a few moments, as soon as it begins.

While we wait, I want to bring back the former NTSB managing director, Peter Goelz.

Peter, first of all, what are you hoping to hear from these Canadian officials? They're about to report on what they know. What do you -- what are you hoping to hear from them about the plane crash?

RICHARD GOELZ, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Well, I hope they, first of all, give us an update on the conditions of all of the passengers, particularly the 2 or 3 individuals that are in critical condition and the condition of the of the child that has been reportedly taken to a pediatric hospital for special care. We need to know how the folks are doing. That's the first thing.

The second thing is, is we need to know, you know, what are some of the facts, that can be established early in the investigation? You know, was the plane, on a stable approach? You know, what was the wind? What was the airspeed? You know, were they nervous? Had they had they communicated any concerns about the approach?

These are all things that the tower tapes would have, and that could lead to some insight into the accident.

BLITZER: How long, Peter, do you think it could you could take for investigators in Canada to determine how this crash happened?

GOELZ: Well, by statute, or by treaty, on which this investigation is conducted under, they have to give a pretty extensive interim report within 30 days. And most of these investigations under ICAO are churned out in about one year. And I think the Canadians are very timely in their reports. They don't take much. They -- they don't dally around. I think we can expect to see, uh, this investigation concluded within 12 months.

BLITZER: Interesting.

Delta says 18 customers as they're calling the passengers. Customers who were injured in this crash. Looking at the pictures and we've all seen the pictures. Are you surprised it wasn't worse?

GOELZ: It certainly is extraordinary that only 18 passengers were injured. And as we discussed earlier, it really is a tribute to the government regulation that mandated strengthened seats in all commercial aircraft so that if an aircraft had a crash landing, that the seats would remain intact and that people, you know, attached to the floorboards and that people would not be thrown throughout the cabin.

So this is a real tribute to 16G seats. I know when I was at the safety board, we made recommendations on that, and I know that, in 2009, all planes had to have it.

BLITZER: All right. Peter Goelz, thanks very much.

And to our viewers, thanks very much for watching. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.