But the government’s weather service said that gusts of up to 38 miles an hour were coming from the west as it was landing. There was also drifting snow in the Toronto area, which was struck by two snowstorms in the past few days.
The jet’s pilots had told passengers during the flight that there were windy conditions, said Mr. Carlson, the paramedic who was on the flight. But he and others were still unprepared for the jolt when it came. “It was cement and metal,” he said.
The fact that the passengers would have had their seatbelts on for the landing, as required under Canadian law, was one of several factors that limited injuries and contributed to a safe evacuation, said John Cox, a former airline pilot and founder of Safety Operating Systems, an aviation consulting firm.
“By the time the airplane comes to a stop, everybody’s belted in, the seats remain attached to the floor and the fuselage stayed together,” he said.
That the exit doors could still be opened underscored the construction quality of the plane, he added. And the ability of the crew to open those doors, even while upside down and get passengers out quickly, was a testament to their training.
Mr. Carlson, who had a scrape visible on his head, said he saw a woman who had ended up under a seat and a mother and a boy who were sitting on the ceiling of the aircraft. He had no idea what state any of them were in, he said. “My fatherly instinct and background as a paramedic kind of kicked in,” he said, making him focus on ensuring that they all got off the plane.
Even in those panicky moments, there was a palpable camaraderie as they escaped the plane, he said. “Everyone on that plane suddenly became very close in terms of how to help one another, how to console one another,” he said. “That was powerful.”
Jet fuel was running down the airplane’s windows, Mr. Carlson said. And after leaving the plane, he and others tried to move as far from it as possible once he noticed that a wing was missing and heard sounds of an explosion.
