On Monday, Delta Flight 4819 landed and flipped at Toronto International Airport. Twenty-one of the 76 passengers on that flight had to go to the hospital and, as of yesterday, all but one had been released.
Delta Offers $30,000 to Passengers of Flipped Plane
Now, as some of the passengers are already signing up with a Canadian law firm, Delta has said that they are offering $30,000 to each passenger. This amount, they have made clear to the passengers, does not come with strings attached and the passengers retain their rights to pursue the airline in court.
There has been much speculation online, including from airline pilots, as to what had caused the crash. Video released after the crash had been mentioned as showing the plane coming in faster than typical and not flaring on landing, causing a harder impact on the landing gear and resulting in the plane going over on one side and shearing off the wing before ending upside down.
NEW: New footage shows passengers walking on the ceiling to escape the Delta jet that crashed in Toronto, Canada.
“Don’t take a video. Put that phone away,” a flight attendant could be heard saying.
Here is what we know so far:
– 15 people including a child were injured, at… pic.twitter.com/7FHt16WP2Q
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 17, 2025
Clearist footage showing the crash moment of Delta – Endevoir Air CRJ-900 Flight DL4819 from Minneapolis (MSP) to Toronto (YYZ) with registration N932XJ.
We will share the reports as soon as available. pic.twitter.com/4XRAdJt3c0— aircraftmaintenancengineer (@airmainengineer) February 18, 2025
All 80 people on board, the 76 passengers and 4 crew members, have survived and the crashed plane remains on the runway as the Canadian authorities complete their investigation.
According the the NY Times, “when an international aviation accident causes injury or death, airlines in the United States are required to make advance payments to passengers if the airline determines that the money is necessary to cover their immediate economic needs.” That initial payment, according to the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, must be more than around $20,000 if a passenger dies but such payments do not mean that the airline admits any kind of liability and it is an advance that can be subtracted from any future settlement. The amount is to help the passengers in the interim after such an event.
Given that Delta offered more than the minimum required, they obviously want to be seen as doing beyond their responsibility in helping these passengers right away. And while $30,000 sounds like a lot, remember that they will give up to $10,000 to have passengers take a later flight. Offering 3x that amount for a crash certainly doesn’t seem extreme.
