What we know (and don’t) about the Delta airplane crash

While some claims about the flight crew have been widely circulated, not all of them are supported by verified information. Here’s a breakdown of what has been confirmed and what remains unverified.

Source: X

Author: Cosmin Dzsurdzsa

In the aftermath of the Delta Connection Endeavor Air Flight 4819 crash at Toronto’s Pearson airport, speculation has been rampant across social media.

While some claims about the flight crew have been widely circulated, not all of them are supported by verified information. Here’s a breakdown of what has been confirmed and what remains unverified.

What’s unverified:

The identity of the pilots has been a topic of speculation online, but as of now, no official confirmation has been made. The names of the pilots have not been publicly released by Delta or Endeavor Air.

Viral social media posts claiming to name the identity of the pilot are currently speculative and based on unverified sources. Additionally, the pilots themselves have not spoken publicly about the incident.

What’s verified:

Delta and its subsidiary Endeavor Air released an official statement on Feb. 20 to address what they called misinformation circulating online.

The airline confirmed that the captain was originally hired in October 2007 by Mesaba Airlines, a predecessor of Endeavor Air. According to Delta, the male pilot has served as both an active-duty captain and in pilot training and flight safety roles.

Delta and Endeavor explicitly stated that rumours of him failing training or being unable to advance to a Delta pilot position due to training failures are false.

Additionally, the airline confirmed the first officer was a woman hired by Endeavor Air in January 2024, who successfully completed training by April of that year. Since then, she has been actively flying for the airline. Her flight experience meets and exceeds the minimum standards set by the FAA, Delta said, noting that like the captain, claims she failed training are also false.

Both pilots were fully qualified and certified by the FAA for their respective positions.

Why did the plane crash?

While the full investigation is still underway, some aviation experts and former pilots have pointed to a hard landing with a high vertical speed as the likely cause of the crash. This resulted in a right main landing gear failure, which ultimately led to the Bombardier CRJ-900 flipping on the tarmac.

Retired Navy fighter pilot Whiz Buckley told The Megyn Kelly Show that the lack of flare indicated a hard landing.

“It looks like this airplane didn’t really have too much of a flare, which is when you get close into the runway we pull… back on the throttles and kind of do that nice, what we as Navy pilots would say, Air Force landing,” said Buckley.

“This landing was hard and it looks like it sheared off the right main landing gear, took the wing with it, and then the only wing that was left – the left wing – still producing lift, so they kind of corkscrew and roll down the runway.”