AMNA NAWAZ: Investigators are still trying to determine what caused a dramatic Delta Air Lines regional jet crash in Toronto yesterday.

Stunning new video shows how the plane flipped over and caught on fire at Pearson Airport.

All 80 passengers survived; 21 people were injured, including two who remain hospitalized.

Air traffic controllers warned pilots of winds up to 38 miles per hour just before the plane attempted to land.

It is the latest in a string of significant accidents this year, four in less than a month, including that fatal midair collision in Washington, D.C., between a Black Hawk helicopter and a jet that killed 67 people.

For more on all of this, I'm joined by David Shepardson of Reuters.

David, good to see you.

Thanks for being here.

DAVID SHEPARDSON, Reuters: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So let's just start with this Toronto crash.

What do you take away from the latest information we have gotten from officials?

Do they have any idea about the cause?

DAVID SHEPARDSON: So we do know that the investigators from Canada have recovered the flight data recorder, the cockpit voice recorder.

Those are going to be read and analyzed.

We should get more information about what happened in those final moments.

But it's clear investigators are going to focus on the actions of the pilot, not that they necessarily did anything wrong, but, as you said, we're dealing with severe crosswinds.

And the one question that is certainly in the minds of experts is, was the plane flaring?

That means, when you land, there's a little bit of a pitch up, right, sort of gently land on the ground.

And from the videos, it appears the plane was not flaring like a normal plane would.

Now, that could have been because of the pilot trying to deal with these winds, or perhaps the wind wasn't there at the moment of landing that they thought.

So that's one key question.

What happened and why did it appear that the plane landed at such a high rate of speed?

AMNA NAWAZ: The video is just so remarkable.

I know people are taking notice of it, how it landed upside down... DAVID SHEPARDSON: Yes.

Sure.

AMNA NAWAZ: ... but also the fact that everyone on board survived.

What should we take away from that?

DAVID SHEPARDSON: Just remarkable, right?

And, first, you have to recognize the actions of the flight crew, the flight attendants getting everybody off that plane safely.

And, as you said, there are two people hospitalized.

They are expected to recover.

And, also, let's remember there's a lot of regulations that require the seats to be able to withstand up to 16g of gravitational forces when that plane lands.

The structural requirements of that plane, when it tipped over, it didn't collapse on itself.

So between the air traffic controllers and all the parts of the system, is this still a very safe system.

AMNA NAWAZ: We mentioned there's other significant accidents over the last few weeks.

People will remember seeing these headlines.

Here's a quick listing here.

We saw, of course, that Washington, D.C., midair crash.

There were also crashes in Pennsylvania and in Alaska, the private planes colliding in Arizona.

And, David, as you know, it's worth pointing out, as of today, there have actually been 88 reported aviation accidents in 2025.

Just put that into context for us.

Is that a low number?

Should people be worried?

What does that mean?

DAVID SHEPARDSON: So I looked at the NTSB data before this, and it's actually lower -- I think it was around 130 or something in the first six or seven weeks of this year -- or sorry -- last year, the two months versus the first six or seven weeks of this year.

However, that doesn't mean -- and most of those are -- nearly all are small planes, single -- private planes involved in accidents.

It's worth noting that before that collision outside of Reagan National, we had gone 16 years in the United States without a U.S. pasture airline fatal crash, since 2009.

So the system is very safe.

Now, that is not to say we have not had a series of very troubling near miss incidents.

And it raises questions about, is the system overstressed?

We have air traffic controllers in many places working six-day weeks, mandatory overtime.

We're about 3,500 controllers short of where the standard -- the ideal staffing should be.

And, remember, the airlines, there's more and more flights being added.

There's more demand.

So the system is under some level of stress.

And I think one question is, how do we ensure that, as we add more demand, that the system can perform safely, despite areas where we clearly don't have enough staffing?

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, in that context, let me ask you about this.

This week, we have learned the Trump administration has begun firing several hundred FAA employees as part of this larger cost and staff-cutting effort across the government.

Late last night, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy tweeted this.

He said that fewer than 400 employees were fired.

And he also said zero air traffic controllers and critical safety personnel were let go.

David, you talked to a lot of these folks.

Is there any concern that these mass firings could impact air safety in some way?

DAVID SHEPARDSON: So the secretary is right.

They did not fire any air traffic controllers.

It is worth noting, however, that they did initially get those offers to quit, and then, after some concern was raised by airlines and others, that the administration clarified that these safety employees, transportation security officers, air traffic controllers, air safety inspectors, were not eligible for this retirement offer.

Now, some of those individuals who've been let go, these probationary employees, are people, as Senator Maria Cantwell of Washington state said, are people who maintain ground-based radar systems for the FAA, at least jobs that are safety related or safety -- but not necessarily safety-critical.

And there's certainly a debate, what does it mean to be safety-critical, as to have some sort of safety function?

It's clear that Democrats and the union and others say none of those safety-related positions should be eliminated.

And that's going to be the topic of a lot of debate on Capitol Hill about, do these cuts make sense in light of all the other safety issues facing the U.S.?

AMNA NAWAZ: In about 30 seconds left, give me a sense of what you're hearing from folks on the inside amid all of these cuts and concerns.

DAVID SHEPARDSON: Right.

So, look, I think everybody in the aviation industry and the government is very concerned about these incidents, right?

There's no pattern so far, except, is the system -- are people under stress?

Are there ways to de-stress the system and ensure that people continue to get all the equipment and the support they need?

And do we have -- and are the flights properly maintained?

And do the airlines -- are they flying too many flights?

AMNA NAWAZ: David Shepardson from Reuters, always good to see you.

Thank you so much.

DAVID SHEPARDSON: Thank you.