Hundreds of thousands of people have signed a petition to revoke Elon Musk's Canadian citizenship amid tensions between the Trump administration and Canada. The petition, which opened to signatures five days ago, accuses Mr Musk of acting against Canada's national interest and undermining its sovereignty. In Canada, citizenship can be revoked only if someone has committed fraud, misrepresented themselves or knowingly hid information on an immigration or citizenship application. Mr Musk, who was born in South Africa, holds both Canadian and US citizenship. Responding to the petition, the billionaire wrote on X: "Canada is not a real country." The post was later deleted. The petition claims the billionaire "has used his wealth and power to influence our elections" and "has now become a member of a foreign government that is attempting to erase Canadian sovereignty". Mr Musk has Canadian citizenship through his mother, who was born in Saskatchewan. It is mostly symbolic and has no legal force. But petitions with at least 500 signatures and a member of parliament's backing typically receive a government response, this one may not, as a spring election could dissolve parliament. It was created by a British Columbia author and endorsed by MP Charlie Angus of the New Democratic Party. Angus, a 20-year MP for Timmins–James Bay, has announced he will not seek re-election. US-Canada tensions have escalated since Trump's return, with the president repeatedly suggesting Canada could become a US state and threatening tariffs on steel, aluminium, and other imports. Canadian leaders have pushed back, vowing counter-tariffs. The spat has spilled out beyond government, with Canadians cancelling US trips, boycotting American products, and booing opposing anthems at hockey and basketball games. Mr Musk moved to Canada from South Africa at 18, and worked odd jobs before studying at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He later emigrated to the US. The billionaire has backed Trump's hardline immigration policies but now faces scrutiny over claims he worked illegally in the US on a student visa. In a recent interview, Steve Bannon, a former advisor to President Trump, called Mr Musk a "parasitic illegal immigrant". The Tesla CEO has denied the accusations, and has said he did not work illegally. He became a naturalised US citizen in 2002, according to a recent biography.

After back-to-back debates in both English and French, the candidates to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party in Canada have made their case to voters. Card-holding Liberals will now choose between former governor of the banks of Canada and England Mark Carney, former finance minister Chrystia Freeland, House government leader Karina Gould and businessman and former MP Frank Baylis. Whoever wins the vote on 9 March will become Canada's next prime minister and will lead the Liberals in the forthcoming general election, which must be held on or before 20 October of this year. A big focus of the debates has been how Canada should respond to US President Donald Trump, who has threatened steep tariffs on America's northern neighbour and has suggested that Canada become the "51st state." Here are five big takeaways from the two Liberal leadership debates. The Trump Factor How Canada should respond to what many have dubbed an "existential threat" from US President Donald Trump has unsurprisingly dominated the agenda at both debates. Trump has said he plans to impose a 25% tariff on all Canadian exports, with the exception of energy that would be tariffed at a lower 10% - a move that economists say would be devastating for Canada while increasing prices for Americans. He has also repeatedly proposed that the US should annex Canada, which has been met with alarm and anger from large swathes of the Canadian population. Freeland, a former top minister who served during Trump's first term, positioned herself as an experienced negotiator who has fought - and won - against the US president and his previous tariffs. But Carney warned that the Trump of today was not the Trump of the past. "He is more isolationist. He is more aggressive," Carney said. "In the past he wanted our markets. Now he wants our country." Gould, the youngest candidate, suggested that Canada should "put everything on the table" to protect its sovereignty, and that the federal government should help businesses diversify their portfolios to depend less on the US. Baylis, meanwhile, said Canada needed to forge closer economic ties with the UK, New Zealand and Australia, saying all four were like-minded countries with shared values, culture, and government systems. How Canada can fix its economy Trump's threats are made more alarming by Canada's current economic situation. Canadians have voiced frustrations over the stubborn high cost of living. Carney - an economist by trade - promised a plan that would balance Canada's operational budget in three years and proposed that Canada rethink the way it spends its money. But he has also noted his support for key Liberal programmes, like affordable childcare and dental care. As the former finance minister, Freeland defended her track record, saying the country's finances were still "very strong". She added that Canada should capitalise on the surge of patriotism in the face of Trump's threats, using that momentum to support Canadian industries and promote job growth. Baylis drew on his expertise as a businessman to say that Canada should work on building its productivity. Gould, on the other hand, said the Liberal Party should be "realistic with Canadians" and that balancing the budget in three years was not possible without significant cuts, which she did not support. She said Canada should instead focus on "modernising its social safety net" to help those who are struggling. "We are facing extreme threats from the US, so we have to be able to invest in our people and in our businesses to protect them," Gould said. Defeating Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre The four candidates were debating with each other but they often presented a united front against their shared opponent, Conservative party leader Pierre Poilievre, whose party is favoured in the polls as the most likely to form Canada's next government. Liberal leadership hopefuls threw several jabs at Poilievre throughout the debate. Gould called him "our little version of Trump here at home" while Freeland said Poilievre was looking to "imitate" Trump. Carney criticised Poilievre as "irresponsible" and added that Canada could "not afford" to have him as prime minister. Poilievre, who has enjoyed a sizable lead in the polls ahead of an unpopular Trudeau, has had to pivot his pitch to Canadians since Trudeau's resignation. His message changed from criticising the sitting prime minister for leading a "broken" Canada to putting "Canada First" in the face of threats from the US. He has also shifted his focus to attacking Carney, who is favoured to win the Liberal leadership race. Poilievre is still polling ahead nationally, but some polls suggest that the lead between him and the Liberals has shrunk since Trudeau's exit. Supporting Ukraine and Nato Responding to shifting US policy on the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, all four candidates affirmed their commitment to continuing Canada's support for Ukraine. All of them also backed the need for Canada to hit its 2% military spending target as set out in its commitments to the Nato alliance, though they disagreed on the timeline and how to get there. Freeland said Canada should hit the target by 2027, and should do so by investing in the "next generation of warfare". Baylis and Carney have said their plan would be for Canada to reach that target by 2030. Both Freeland and Carney said Canada needed to invest that money into Canadian military ventures instead of into the US. Freeland noted that Canada should reduce its reliance on the US, and should look to work with the EU and other Nato partners on security assurances. A rethink of the consumer tax on carbon A tax on carbon for consumers and businesses has been the cornerstone of the Trudeau government's policy on climate change. But that tax has proven to be unpopular with Canadians, forcing Carney and Freeland to promise that they would ditch the policy. Carney, a former UN special envoy on climate action and finance, has long been a proponent of the carbon tax. In the debates, however, he acknowledged the tax on consumers had become divisive, and said he would instead focus on taxing big polluters and growing clean energy projects in Canada. Freeland, who resigned from Trudeau's government because of disagreements with the prime minister on spending, said that history would judge his climate action favourably despite his policies' unpopularity. But she, too, vowed to scrap the carbon tax. "Democracy is about listening to people, and Canadians were very clear with us that they did not think that policy worked for them," she said. Gould and Baylis, on the other hand, said they would keep some version of the consumer tax on carbon in place, saying that fighting climate change comes with a price.

Candidates vying to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada faced each other for the first time on Monday in a French-language debate. The stage was shared by four hopefuls: former governor of the banks of Canada and England Mark Carney, former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, Liberal government House leader Karina Gould, and businessman and former MP Frank Baylis. The question of how to deal with Donald Trump dominated the first half, as the US president has repeatedly threatened to tariff Canada and make it the "51st state." Candidates also answered questions about domestic matters like immigration, healthcare and the high cost of living. Early in the debate, Freeland - whose resignation as finance minister in December triggered the collapse of Trudeau's leadership - stated that Trump represented "the greatest threat to Canada since World War Two". She frequently drew on her experience in government, saying that she had successfully faced Trump during his first term when she helped renegotiate North America's longstanding free-trade agreement. But Freeland warned that Trump's second term might be worse for Canada. "He wants to turn Canada into the 51st state, and it's no joke," she said. "That is why he is supporting [Russian President] Vladimir Putin's criminal attempt to redraw Ukraine's borders." "Trump wants to redraw our borders too," Freeland said. To counter these threats, Freeland and the other candidates suggested strengthening trade ties with the EU and the UK. Baylis proposed a "new economic bloc" consisting of Canada, the UK, New Zealand and Australia, noting that all four countries shared the same values, cultures and governing systems. Carney, who is frontrunner in the polls, focused his message on helping Canada achieve economic prosperity. He proposed doing so by leveraging its resources, including critical minerals and metals, as well as making Canada a "superpower of clean energy" and removing trade barriers between provinces. He, too, agreed with Freeland that Trump's second term was different from the first. "He is more isolationist. He is more aggressive," Carney said. "In the past he wanted our markets. Now he wants our country." He added that he would be in favour of imposing dollar-for-dollar tariffs on the US should Trump move ahead with his threat to levy a 25% tax on all Canadian goods starting on 4 March. Gould, the youngest candidate on the stage, positioned herself as the candidate "for today and the future", with a message that homed in on how a Liberal Party under her leadership would work to make life more affordable for Canadians. The candidates also addressed shifting US policy on Ukraine. As the four debated, Trudeau was in Kyiv marking three years since the Russia-Ukraine war began. All four candidates agreed that Canada should continue supporting Ukraine. Freeland suggested that money seized from Russia through sanctions be redistributed to help Ukraine's war effort, while Carney stated that any discussion on Ukraine's future could not happen without the Ukrainians at the table. Freeland also suggested that Canada should foster closer ties with Denmark which, she noted. was also facing threats from Trump who has signalled his desire to take over Greenland - a Danish territory. For the second half of the debate, candidates offered up their ideas for how to help Canada reduce its federal budget deficit, tackle crime and increase its military spending. They were also asked about climate change, with both Freeland and Carney saying they no longer supported a carbon tax on consumers - a key climate policy of the Trudeau government that has become unpopular with Canadians. At certain points, candidates also took aim at Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, saying he would be unfit to defend Canada against Trump. Poilievre is currently leading in the national polls, though the gap between him and the Liberal Party has narrowed since Trudeau's resignation. The Conservative leader has since focused his attacks on Carney, arguing that a Liberal Party under his leadership would not be different from that under Trudeau. Monday's debate is the first of two, with a second, English-language debate slated for Tuesday. Liberal Party members will vote for their next leader on 9 March, after which Trudeau is expected to step down. The French-language debate is especially important for Francophone Canadians in Quebec, whose votes are influential in helping decide which party will form Canada's next government. Whoever is elected as leader would become Canada's next prime minister until the next general election, which must be held on or before 20 October.

While drinking tree sap does not immediately sound appealing, Canadian producers are hoping that it will be the next must-try soft drink around the world. We have all heard of maple syrup, which is made by boiling down the sap of maple trees to produce a thick, sweet, golden-to-brown coloured syrup that is typically poured over pancakes. What is far less well known is that you can drink the sap itself, which is called maple water. Clear in colour, it contains just 2% natural sugars, so it is only slightly sweet. A small but growing number of producers in Canada are now selling this maple water in bottles or cartons, after first giving it a filter and pasteurisation to kill off any microbes. "People feel like they're drinking the wild Canadian forest," says Yannick Leclerc of Maple3, a producer of maple water drinks, based in Quebec City. Advocates point to the fact it is a natural drink, and makers hope that it can steal some sales from the existing similar product – coconut water. The latter is made from water that naturally forms inside coconuts. As Canada is far and away the world's largest producer of maple syrup – accounting for more than 80% of production – it is understandable that the nascent maple water sector is also Canadian. Furthermore, it is centred on the province of Quebec, which makes 90% of Canada's maple syrup. Mr Leclerc says that Maple3 is one of the pioneers of the sector. "Nobody [previously] thought about keeping the sap for its hydration purposes versus just boiling it into syrup." He joined the company back in 2016, three years after it was founded by his business partner Stéphane Nolet. In recent years an increasing number of other producers have entered the marketplace. Mr Leclerc claims that Maple3 has doubled its annual profits since 2021, with sales not just rising across Canada, but in 12 other countries, including France, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Some 75% of its sales now come from overseas, and it sells both still and sparkling maple water, and fizzy versions with added natural fruit flavourings. "It's more than just a local product at this point," adds Mr Leclerc. For the maple water industry as a whole, one recent report predicts big growth. It estimated that global sales in 2024 totalled $506m (£409m), with that expected to jump to $2.6bn by 2033. By comparison, worldwide sales of coconut water reached $7.7bn in 2023, with that expected to grow to $22.9bn by 2029. So maple water has a long way to catch up. Meanwhile, the global value of the maple syrup market was $1.7bn last year, according to one study. Beth Czerwony, a dietician with the non-profit medical centre Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, says the growing popularity of maple water is linked to its perceived health benefits. "When the sap itself is filtered through the tree, it ends up absorbing a bunch of antioxidants," she says. "So they're gonna end up having a better performance and a faster workout recovery." However, one medical study from 2019 concluded that maple water was "was not superior in rehydration" to normal water. Jeremy Kinsella owns The Soda Pop Bros in Windsor Ontario, which sells soft drinks under its own brand name, as well as imports from around the world. His family have been in the industry for nearly a century, and in his lifetime he has seen a fair share of trends come and go. He says that if maple water is to go mainstream it needs the financial backing and promotion of one of the huge global soft drinks firms. "It will take a larger soda manufacturer for it to really catch on," he says. Mr Kinsella also says that the price of maple water is currently too high. "When it comes down to it, someone's looking at a can of Coke for a buck and they're looking at a can of maple water for three bucks, they're going to try it a couple of times and go back to Coke," he says. Marketing maple water more would certainly help it increase sales, says John Tomory, who helps run Pefferlaw Creek Farms in Uxbridge, Ontario. He and his brothers have been making maple syrup commercially for almost 10 years, and for the past four they have also been selling the sap to a Canada brand called Sap Sucker. This makes sparkling sap water with different added flavours, from lime to grapefruit, and lemon to orange. Mr Tomory says he agrees with this approach to make the sap more interesting. "I know a lot of people have tried just selling the sap as it is, just basic sap from the tree and it's still, but they haven't really caught on," he says. "So I think carbonating it and adding fruit flavour makes it more interesting. That's the real innovation." Back at Maple3 in Quebec, Mr Leclerc also thinks that the sparkling version of the drink could be the more popular: "It has perks that a normal sparkling water doesn't have," he says, such as a more interesting flavour, without having all the bad stuff that [regular] soda has."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau could not resist a dig at President Donald Trump moments after Canada's ice hockey team beat the USA in a close final. "You can't take our country - and you can't take our game," Trudeau wrote on X. Canada's thrilling 3-2 overtime win in the 4 Nations Face Off final in Boston took place amid rising tensions between the two neighbours. Not only is there the looming threat of an economically damaging trade war, there are Trump's persistent musings on making Canada the 51st US state. The American national anthem has been regularly booed by Canadian sports fans in recent weeks but this time it was the US home fans doing most of the booing. As their jeers rang out, the Canadian national anthem was sung with different lyrics in protest over Trump's statements. A representative for singer Chantal Kreviazuk told CBC News she intentionally sang "that only us command" instead of "in all of us command". In a post on Instagram with a photo of the adjusted lyrics, Kreviazuk said: "We should express our outrage in the face of any abuses of power." On any ordinary day, this fixture would have been a significant one for the two neighbouring countries who have long been friendly rivals on the ice. But recent events gave it added spice. And the sudden-death goal from Connor McDavid which sealed the win prompted delirium among the travelling fans. The US president was unable to make the game but he called the team to wish them good luck. He also repeated his desire to absorb Canada, writing in a Truth Social post ahead of the game that he hoped the country "will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished and very important, Fifty First State". For fans across North America, the final was a "dream match-up," ice hockey writer Daniel Nugent-Bowman told the BBC. Not since the 2014 Winter Olympics had the top men's ice hockey players from Canada and the US faced off in such a consequential game. Both countries boast some of the biggest stars in the National Hockey League (NHL), like Canadians Mitch Marner and McDavid, and Americans Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel. The game was a chance for this new generation of players to prove themselves. But in Canada, the game was also a personal one, giving both die-hard and casual fans an opportunity to bask in national pride at a time when the country's sovereignty looks to be threatened by its closest neighbour. Few Canadians would dispute how integral ice hockey is to the country's national identity. The sport has served as a backdrop to some of the most patriotic moments in Canada's history, like Sidney Crosby's overtime gold medal goal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Historically, Canada has had the upper hand against the US. The two countries have met 20 times in best-on-best tournaments since the 1976 Canada Cup, with Canada winning 14 of those games.

Delta Air Lines is offering US$30,000 (£23,792) to each person on board a plane that crash-landed in Toronto on Monday - all of whom survived. As it landed in the Canadian city, the plane skidded along the runway in flames before flipping over and coming to a halt upside down. Passengers described their amazement as most of them walked away without injuries. It remains unclear what caused the incident, which is under investigation. There were 76 passengers and four crew on the flight, which had travelled from the US city of Minneapolis before making its crash-landing in Canada. A spokesperson for Delta said the money offer had no strings attached and did not affect customers' rights. Toronto law firm Rochon Genova says it has been retained by certain passengers and their families over the crash-landing. Lawyer Vincent Genova said the group expected a "timely and fair resolution", highlighting that his clients "suffered personal injuries of a serious nature that required hospital attention". In an email to the BBC, Mr Genova said the $30,000 compensation is an "advance" payment meant to assist plane crash victims with short-term financial challenges, and the airline will seek to deduct it from any later settled claims. There is precedent to these types of payments, like in 2013, when Asiana Airlines offered passengers of a San Francisco plane crash $10,000 in initial compensation. Last year, Alaska Airlines offered a $1,500 cash payment to passengers after mid-air door-plug blowout on a flight from Portland. Following this week's incident in Toronto, the plane crew and emergency responders were praised for their quick work in removing people from the wrecked vehicle. The plane's various safety features have also been credited for ensuring no loss of life. All of the 21 passengers who were taken to hospital had been released by Thursday morning, the airline said. The airline's head Ed Bastian told CBS the plane crew had "performed heroically, but also as expected", given that "safety is embedded into our system". He said Delta was continuing to support those affected. Several theories about what caused the crash have been suggested to the BBC by experts who reviewed footage, including that harsh winter weather and a rapid rate of descent played a role. One passenger recalled "a very forceful event", and the sound of "concrete and metal" at the moment of impact. Another said passengers were left hanging upside down in their seats "like bats". The cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder have been recovered from the wreckage. The investigation is being led by Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB), supported by US officials. On Wednesday evening, the wreckage was removed from the airport runway. The accident was the fourth major air incident in North America in a space of three weeks - and was followed on Wednesday by a crash in Arizona in which two people lost their lives when their small planes collided. Experts continue to insist that air travel is overwhelmingly safe - more so than other forms of transport, in fact. That message was emphasised by US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who told CBS on Wednesday there was no pattern behind the incidents, each of which he said was "very unique".

Investigators are looking into what made a Delta plane crash land and flip over at Toronto's Pearson Airport on Monday, an incident all 80 people on board survived. Airport CEO Deborah Flint said investigators will be reviewing the aircraft on the runway for the next 48 hours, adding that this was "not the time" to speculate on the cause of the crash. The Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis skidded along the runway with flames visible before it came to a halt upside down. Twenty-one people were injured, of which 19 have been released from the hospital, authorities said on Tuesday. The two patients do not face life-threatening injuries. There were 76 passengers and four crew on board the 16-year-old CRJ900 aircraft, made by Canada's Bombardier company. Injuries at the time of the crash ranged from head injuries to back sprains, and nausea and vomiting due to jet fuel exposure, a representative for Peel Regional Paramedic Services said. Passengers on board said they were hanging upside down in their seats and had to release themselves, falling on to the ceiling before clambering out on to the snow-covered tarmac. Firefighters quickly came to the rescue. Although the airport had been experiencing "extreme" weather conditions, Monday was categorised as a "clear day" for operational recovery following prior disruption, officials said. Toronto was hit by a major snow storm over the weekend, but authorities said the runway was dry at the time of landing and that there were no cross-wind conditions. Cross-wind conditions refer to when wind blows across the direction of travel which could affect vehicles and aircraft by pushing them sideways and requiring corrective action to maintain control. Before the crash, authorities said snow had stopped and "frigid temperatures and high winds [were] moving in". Audio recording from Pearson's air traffic control tower, reported on by the Canadian Press, shows the flight was cleared to land shortly after 14:00 on Monday, and that the tower had warned the pilots of a possible air flow "bump" in the glide path from a plane in front of it. Analysts say it is possible the plane may have struck an item on the runway such as a light when it landed. The crash is at least the fourth major aviation incident in North America in the past month, including an American Airlines plane in Washington, DC, that collided with a US Army helicopter, killing all 67 people on board. Correction 11 March 2025: The definition of a cross-wind was amended to say that this occurs when a wind blows across the direction of travel

Passengers have described their amazement after most of them escaped unscathed from a plane that crash landed in Toronto on Monday afternoon. The Delta flight skidded along the runway in flames before flipping over and coming to a dramatic halt upside down, losing its tail and an entire wing in the process. Some of the 80 people on board were then left hanging upside down while still strapped to their seats, before they scrambled over luggage to escape onto the snowy runway. No-one died in the incident, which is under investigation. Analysts have suggested the harsh winter weather may be to blame, or that the plane landed badly. They have also credited the plane's safety features with saving lives. What happened when the plane crashed? The incident took place shortly after 14:00 local time on Monday (19:00 GMT). It involved a model CRJ-900 plane, operating as Delta Air Lines flight DL4819. The aircraft arrived at Toronto from the US city of Minneapolis and was carrying 76 passengers and four crew members. As it landed, the plane appears to have struck the runway, slid for some distance and then flipped over, observed Dan Ronan, a journalist and pilot licensed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), who spoke to BBC News. In a video statement released on Tuesday, Transportation Safety Board senior investigator Ken Webster said that after the initial impact parts of the aircraft separated. The fuselage came to rest slightly off the right side of the runway, upside down and facing the other direction, he said. Footage obtained by TMZ showed part of the aircraft bursting into flames as the landing happened. Firefighters rushed to put these out. Passenger Pete Carlson told broadcaster CBC it was "a very forceful event", recalling the sound of "concrete and metal" at the moment of impact. He and others on board were suspended upside down in their seats, and had to release themselves on to the cabin ceiling before leaving the inverted aircraft. All 80 people on board survived. On Tuesday morning, Delta said 21 injured passengers were initially transported to local hospitals - with 19 later released. Delta has promised to give more updates. Mr Webster said investigators have recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the wreckage as part of their investigation. How does a plane flip over? BBC Verify has analysed recordings of communications between the plane and air traffic control. At no point in discussions was there anything to suggest trouble was anticipated with the landing. This was confirmed by Marco Chan, a former pilot and a senior lecturer at Buckinghamshire New University in the UK, and plane crash investigator Ismo Aaltonen, who also listened to the audio recording. Mr Chan also said the plane appeared to have made a hard landing - involving an unusually high rate of descent. It seems to have touched down with one wheel first, Mr Chan told the BBC, which might have caused the landing gear to collapse on impact. This could have led to the right wing hitting the runway and in turn causing the plane to roll. The weather may also have been significant. The airport fire chief stated that the runway was dry at the time of the incident. Airport authorities had said earlier that although recent heavy snow had stopped, "frigid temperatures and high winds [were] moving in". As the plane came in to land, air traffic controllers told the pilots of 38mph (61km/h) gusts and the possibility of a "slight bump in the glide path", CNN reported. The pilots appear to have attempted what is known as a crab manoeuvre, Mr Ronan said. This involves turning a plane into the wind, and then directly on to the runway at the last moment. Graham Braithwaite, professor of safety and accident investigation at the UK's Cranfield University, said planes were also designed so that passengers involved in an accident did not hit things likely to cause injury. "Even the design of the seat back or the tray table is all part of how we consider making that survivable space," he told the BBC. "And the seatbelt that people have is so important - that is the ultimate thing that stops people being thrown around the cabin like this," he added. The flight attendants have also been praised for getting everyone off the flipped aeroplane quickly. Emergency crews on the ground were labelled "heroic" by the airport chief after reaching the crash site in a matter of minutes. Mr Carlson said the passengers themselves had worked together very effectively. "What I saw was everyone on that plane suddenly became very close in terms of how to help one another, how to console one another," he said. How did the seat design help? Mr Ronan highlighted the importance of the plane's high-impact 16g seats, which he said were "designed to absorb a great deal of punishment". The seats can withstand deceleration of 16 times the force of gravity, and must pass rigorous testing using human dummies to model crash dynamics. The seat legs, attached to a track on the floor, must be able to pitch down 10 degrees on one side and roll 10 degrees on the other side so that they do not break, said Kevin Campbell, founder of Aviation Consulting & Engineering Solutions, who is FAA-authorised to approve seats that are required to comply with the regulations. In previous accidents, the FAA had seen seats piled up in the fronts of aircrafts, with bodies still attached in many cases, Mr Campbell said. Mr Ronan said the regulations keep "the seat in place and bolted to the floor, so you have a higher degree of survivability in your seat itself and you have less likelihood that the seat is going to become detached, where you're now strapped into a moving object that's being bounced around the cabin". The regulations also require a passenger to be able to withstand hitting their head and legs on the seat in front of them, and seats help absorb weight in their spine so that they do not break their back. Seatbelts are also less stretchy than they used to be so the restraint is more secure. "As a result of that aircrafts are much, much safer," Mr Campbell said, and those factors were "absolutely" at play in improving safety in this crash. "It really is remarkable that the seats did exactly what they were supposed to do, they stayed intact... the seatbelts worked just as they were supposed to, and the seats did not become detached from the floor," Mr Ronan said. "Think of how many head injuries we would have had, spinal injuries we would have had, if the seat became detached." Which other plane crashes have happened recently? This marks the fourth major air crash in North America in less than a month, and other recent incidents remain under investigation. All 67 people on board a passenger aeroplane and military helicopter died after the two aircraft collided in midair near Washington DC on 29 January Seven people were killed on 1 February when a medical transportation plane carrying six people crashed in Philadelphia. Another person was killed on the ground All 10 people were killed when a small plane came down in Alaska on 6 February Those incidents followed another high-profile crash in South Korea in December, in which 179 people were killed. Despite these, experts say air travel remains overwhelmingly safe - and increasingly so.

A key organiser behind the "Freedom Convoy" trucker protests that gridlocked Canada's capital for weeks in 2022, has been sentenced to three months of house arrest. Pat King, 47, was convicted in November on five of nine criminal charges: mischief, counselling to commit mischief, counselling to obstruct a public or peace officer, and two counts of disobeying a court order. In his Wednesday sentencing, an Ontario Superior Court judge gave King nine months credit for time already spent behind bars. Prosecutors had asked for a 10-year sentence. King was part of a group that led a convoy of trucks to Ottawa during the pandemic to protest against Covid-19 measures. Speaking outside the courthouse on Wednesday, King's lawyer Natasha Calvinho called the sentencing decision "balanced". "This is an end to a very long and very drawn out process," she said. As part of the conditional sentence, King will also have a period of probation after his release from house arrest, which he will serve in his home province of Alberta. The trucker protests received international attention in 2022 and inspired similar copycat demonstrations abroad. King is the first organiser of the Freedom Convoy to be convicted and sentenced. Two other organisers, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, will learn the outcome of their trial next month. King's lawyers argued during his trial that he was part of a peaceful demonstration against public health restrictions and government mandates, and that police were to blame for rising tensions during the protest. Crown prosecutors argued that he was a key figure behind the protests, which they say had disrupted and harmed the residents and workers of downtown Ottawa for weeks. The February 2022 protests were initially sparked by a federal vaccine mandate for truck drivers crossing the US-Canada border. Convoys of some 400 heavy trucks and other vehicles descended on Ottawa and blockaded city streets around parliament for three weeks. They were stopped after Prime Minister Trudeau enacted the never-before-used Emergencies Act, which allowed police to clear the streets and freeze the bank accounts of protesters. King was arrested shortly after on 18 February and was released on bail five months later. He was ordered back behind bars briefly after he breached court-imposed rules on his social media use.

"Our plane crashed. It's upside down." These were the words of John Nelson, a passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight that had just crashed and flipped while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport. All 80 people on board the flight from Minneapolis - 76 passengers and four crew - have survived, the airport's chief executive has said. Eighteen people were injured but only a small number are thought to be seriously hurt, and investigators are looking into what caused the crash. "Most people appear to be okay. We're all getting off," Mr Nelson said in a video posted to Facebook soon after the incident. "We skidded on our side, then flipped over on our back," he said, adding that "there was a big fire ball out the left side of the plane". Like Mr Nelson, Ashley Zook took immediately to social media to express her disbelief, filming herself saying: "I was just in a plane crash. Oh my God." Mr Nelson said he was able to unbuckle himself and push himself to the ground. "Some people were kind of hanging and needed some help... and others were able to get down on their own," he said. Mr Carlson said passengers quickly acted as a team. "What I saw was everyone on that plane suddenly became very close, in terms of how to help one another, how to console one another." Video footage shared on social media shows people clambering out of the overturned aircraft, with fire crews spraying it with foam. Passengers were seen being helped out of the plane's doors by airport staff, with some then running away from the plane's entrance. Despite a plane flipping on the runway, Diane Perry said she learned of the crash when her family called her while she was in line to check her luggage. The reason for the crash is not yet clear. Two runways will remain closed for several days for investigation and passengers have been told to expect some delays. That sentiment was echoed by Mr Carlson, who said it was "really amazing" to be alive, while sporting a cut on his head. "I'm a little balder than I was this morning," he said.