(NewsNation) — A flight instructor gave NewsNation a glimpse of what pilots might have seen from the cockpit when a Delta flight flipped over on landing.
The flight from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed and flipped upside down, injuring several people at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
Pilot Robert Thomas put the weather conditions for that day into a flight simulator to show what the pilots could have experienced.
The flight simulator was for a 737, which is larger than the CRJ-900 that flipped. But the view would be similar.
As pilots approach, they would have disengaged autopilot, Thomas said, pointing out a view of a runway and lights that they would have seen as they were about five miles away.
The pilots would have been landing on a runway more than 11,000 feet long in snowy and windy conditions.
“If I have a lot of wind blowing on my aircraft, it’s going to change the amount of wind blowing over my wings, which affects lift,” Thomas said. “So if I have a gust of wind that hits my aircraft and it dies off, that’s going to affect how my aircraft flies.”
Winds coming from any direction can also help push the plane’s path.
There was also a lot of snow on the ground, with Toronto having received 20 inches of snow prior to Monday’s incident.
The wind would be blowing snow across the runway, potentially creating optical illusions and visibility challenges for pilots. However, Thomas said airports usually do a good job of keeping runways clear.
Thomas explained that when coming in for a landing, pilots would be focusing on keeping the wings level and the nose down, correcting for winds with the yoke and rudder pedals to make sure the plane doesn’t get pushed off the runway.
The investigation into Monday’s crash is still underway and it’s too soon to say if weather is the cause or what other factors could have come into play.
“The really special thing about the aviation industry is that everybody is working together to make things operate safely,” Thomas said. “When things do get crazy, do get a little unsafe, everybody works together to make sure the best outcome is possible.”