The Delta Air Lines crash on Monday afternoon has intensified travel chaos at Toronto Pearson International Airport, already struggling with numerous flight cancellations and delays due to back-to-back snowstorms. By Monday night, almost 400 flights had been scrubbed and over 300 were delayed, according to FlightAware.
The airport temporarily halted operations for over two hours following the incident, during which the Delta jet flipped over during landing attempts. Although operations resumed around 5 p.m., two out of the airport’s five runways were still closed.
Previously, Pearson anticipated a busy day on Monday as airlines worked to recover from a prior snowstorm that blanketed the area with over eight inches of snow on the weekend. On Sunday alone, over 300 flights were canceled and more than 500 experienced delays.
Last week’s snowstorm had also contributed to significant disruptions, delivering more snow in one day than the entire month of January, according to Toronto Pearson officials. Airport crews have been laboring tirelessly to clear snow from over 1,200 acres, aiming to restore normal flight operations as efficiently as possible.
Yan Zhuang is a reporter for The New York Times, based in Seoul, who specializes in breaking news coverage.
