How can a plane overturn during landing? This is what the experts say about an aircraft ending upside down

It’s extremely rare for an airplane to completely flip over onto its back, but unfortunately, the conditions in Toronto on Monday were just extreme enough to have caused exactly that to happen.

In the latest of a series of high-profile plane crashes, a passenger jet with 80 people on board crashed upon landing at the Toronto Pearson International Airport and the plane, a Bombardier CRJ900 aircraft, flipped onto its back. All 80 passengers were evacuated with 18 injuries reported, mostly minor to moderate.

How did the Toronto plane flip over?

This event is indeed so rare that it’s not even included as a part of the safety instructions gone over at the beginning of commercial flights. While passengers learn how to properly buckle their seatbelts, release their oxygen masks, and inflate their flotation devices, they’re not taught what to do if their plane flips onto its back.

But if it’s so rare, how did it happen? According to pilot Joshua Schirard, everything upon landing seemed to function as normal - speed, vertical descent, and altitude. He explained that it was an extremely windy day in Toronto with a strong headwind coming a 45-degree angle.

“We had a big cross-wind component,” said Schirard. “The other component we’re looking at is a lot of snow and ice on the ground...so I think what we’re looking at here is a lot of that cross-wind component coupled with some snow and some ice and a lot of factors that just unfortunately came together all at the wrong time to cause this accident.”

How the passengers survived

Fortunately, airplanes are built to withstand a crash like this. According to Mike McCormick, associate professor and program coordinator for air traffic management at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, the structure is designed so that the wings and tail will break off in the event of a flip. The seats are designed to withstand impacts up to 16 times the force of gravity so they don’t come loose when upside down, which is why it’s extremely important to be strapped in the seatbelt upon takeoff and landing. All of those factors are what likely contributed to saving the lives of those 80 passengers.

Of course, credit must be given to the cabin crew, who executed a speedy and safe evacuation of the passengers.

“Most people think of them as flight attendants serving refreshments and answering questions,” said McCormick. “Where they really perform their true function is during experiences like this when their experience and training comes into play.”

Najm Meshkati, professor of engineering and expert of aviation safety at the University of Southern California, noted that the most dangerous component of any plane crash is the high risk of a fire igniting. He added that the cabin crew plays a huge part in getting people out safely before that happens.

Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation, also gave credit to the first responders at the airport.

“They were there immediately dousing the aircraft with fire resistant foam,” said Shahidi. “The Toronto Airport is known for being on top of these emergency type situations.”

Shahidi also noted that the crew members’ training and the plane’s structural engineering played a huge role in the survival of the passengers.

“They are put through extreme stress tests to look at all sorts of different scenarios to ensure they’re safe,” Shahidi said of the aircrafts. “We’re thankful and grateful that there were no fatalities and people were actually walking out.”

Although it’s unnerving to hear of all the airplane accidents that have happened this year, McCormick noted that actually, “we are in the safest time in aviation history.”

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