Mission not yet accomplished: Filipino priest among Delta plane crash survivors
Airport workers survey the site of a Delta Air Lines plane crash that injured at least 18 passengers at Toronto Pearson International Airport on 18 February 2025 in Toronto, Canada.
Fr. Joal Bernales, a priest from Camarines Sur, recalled his terrifying experience as one of the 80 passengers who miraculously survived a Delta plane crash in Toronto.
The aircraft slid on a snowy runway, burst into flames, and flipped over before coming to a stop at Pearson Airport.
“It was really hard touchdown. I was so aware of that, so hard. And then, that’s the time it was off balance,” Bernales said in a report by CP24 news channel.
The priest from the Archdiocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Joseph in San Jose town, Camarines Sur, recalled the hard touchdown and the chaos that followed.
Photo courtesy of Archdiocese of Caceres Office for Mission and Evangelization on Facebook
Despite the panic, Bernales emphasized that humanity prevailed, with passengers checking on each other.
“Good thing that there’s still humanity, that all of us were saying, ‘Are you good? Are you good? Are you good?’” he said.
The Delta Airlines plane, on Monday, 17 February (Tuesday, Philippine time), resulted in injuries to at least 18 passengers but no fatalities.
Endeavor Air Flight 4819 departed from Minneapolis, Minnesota, with 76 passengers and four crew members.
Like the other passengers, the priest was also left hanging upside down.
After the incident, he reflected on how this survival was nothing short of a miracle.
“My reflection is that we still have a mission in life to finish, because all of us are in the hand of God,” Bernales said.