Delta plane crashes and flips upside down at Toronto airport

Stiff winds blew over Canada’s Toronto Pearson Airport on Monday afternoon as a slim aircraft, cleared by air traffic controllers to land, and its 80 passengers and crew drifted toward the snowy tarmac.

But within moments, the Bombardier CRJ900 had crashed into the runway and overturned, sending fire crews scrambling to extinguish the flames.

All on board the Delta flight from Minneapolis survived, but it is still unclear how the aircraft was upended, leaving it belly-up with at least 18 people injured — including a child who is reported to be in good condition.

Here’s what we know:

Toronto had been dealing with wind and snow:

Delta flight 4819 departed Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport and approached its destination at Toronto Pearson International Airport shortly before 3 p.m. local time.

Strong winds had been buffeting Toronto all day and airport personnel had worked through the night to clear remnants of about 8 inches of snow that blanketed the airport over the weekend. As the plane neared the airport, air traffic controllers notified its pilots of about 38 mph wind gusts.

Within two minutes, the plane had flipped. Fire erupted as the aircraft tumbled, and the plane slammed into the runway, spitting out a huge fireball andleaving passengers hung aloft in their seats.

Passengers recount the crash:

Fire engines raced onto the tarmac and began spraying thick sheets of white fire retardant over the aircraft’s battered fuselage. It’s unclear where the fire started, but video shows the plane’s fiberglass frame had melted around the engine and thick black streaks stained its side.

After the aircraft came to a standstill, “we were upside down hanging like bats,” passenger Peter Koukov said. He was able to unbuckle himself and stand upright on the ceiling of the plane, but some people needed help getting down from their seats.

Flight attendants helped passengers crawl out of open exit doors, urging people to leave personal belongings behind, though some still exited with bags in tow, video from Koukov shows.

Canada’s busiest airport grinds to a halt:

The crash prompted Toronto Pearson International to temporarily shut down all five of its runways, causing delays and forcing several flights to divert to nearby airports. The remaining two runways where the crash took place will stay closed for several days as investigators analyze the scene.