Flight data shows the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR flew from Hopkins to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport immediately before its scheduled trip to Canada.

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." Passengers were left suspended from the ceiling of the cabin. "We were upside down hanging like bats," Peter Koukov, who was also on the plane, told CNN.