FAYETTEVILLE, Ga. — A veteran Air Force and commercial airline pilot from Fayetteville says the cause of the fiery crash of a Delta jet in Toronto could be the result of several factors, including weather and pilot judgment.
“It just reminded me of the tough landings I’ve had, when your heart is pumping and the adrenaline is going,” retired pilot Johnnie Jones said.
Jones told Channel 2’s Tom Regan that he flew for the U.S. Air Force and as a captain for United Airlines for three decades.
“It had to be some terrible conditions they were dealing with,” he said.
In viewing video of the plane crashing and flipping over, Jones said it could be the plane was going too fast and descending too quickly -- what he called the “sink rate.”
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“The airplane will try to get away from you if you’re not careful, especially in high winds. You hit too hard, and anything can happen. You can blow a tire, landing gear can collapse, and it appears that is what happened,” Jones said.
Jones told Regan the burst of flames on impact was likely the fuel igniting when one wing broke apart as it hit the runway. Fuel is stored in the wings.
“Once that wing broke off, that fuel ignited and caused a fireball. What I’m hearing, engineering has gotten so good, the wings are designed to break away,” Jones said.
All 80 people on board the plane were safely evacuated. Most of the 18 people hospitalized have been treated and released.
Jones said the crew did an outstanding job evacuating the upside-down plane.
“Extremely extraordinary. In this incident, multiple factors came into play. And the investigation will determine exactly what happened,” he said.
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