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Over the course of the last two weeks, there have been four major deadly plane crashes in the US. There was almost a fifth one on Monday, when a Delta flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Flight 4819 landed upside down and miraculously, no one on board was killed. They’re still investigating the cause of the crash, but it’s likely that it was weather related. Some of the first hand reports are truly scary, though, Although all of the dust hasn’t settled yet, Delta has reached out to the 76 passengers of Flight 4819 and offered them $30,000 with “no strings attached.”
Delta Air Lines is offering compensation to passengers involved in the recent crash landing at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport runway. The airline is said to be giving 76 individuals $30,000 each after Delta Flight 4819, operated by regional subsidiary Endeavor Air, crashed on Monday, Feb. 17, while traveling from Minneapolis.
“Delta Care Team representatives are telling customers this gesture has no strings attached and does not affect rights,” a spokesperson for the airline told PEOPLE on Wednesday, Feb. 19.
Four crew members were also onboard the flight from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, a spokesperson previously said. At least 18 people were injured, but no fatalities were reported.
Additionally on Wednesday, Delta shared an update on the wreckage, stating that after “several hours in coordination with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Air Canada,” the damaged aircraft was successfully removed from the runway.
The Delta Care Team said its members were still in Toronto “connecting one-on-one with impacted customers and loved ones to share information and assist with accommodations, meals, transportation and any other needs.”
“They’ll be on site for as long as customers need them to be and maintain connections beyond customers’ return home,” the update continued. The airline is also working to return passenger luggage as safely and swiftly as possible.
Video footage showed Delta Flight 4819 landing on an icy runway as snow covered the ground around it. Before the aircraft could come to a stop, it flipped upside down and burst into flames.
“All 80 people on board were evacuated,” the FAA previously said in a statement, adding, “The Transportation Safety Board of Canada will be in charge of the investigation and will provide any updates.”
In a news conference on Tuesday, Feb. 18, Toronto Pearson President and CEO Deborah Flint offered insight regarding the crash, ABC 7 reported.
“On Thursday and Sunday, we got more than 20 inches, 50 centimeters of accumulated snow. That is actually not typical. In fact, it is more snow within that time window than we received in all of last winter,” Flint said.
“There were many delays and cancelations across this part of Canada and the U.S. Northeast during this time, creating numerous flight delays and backlogs,” the president and CEO added.
However, when Flint was asked if the weather could have played a role in the crash, she said: “This would not be a time for us to have theory or to speculate.”
Peter Koukov, who was one of the 76 passengers on Delta Flight 4819, told CNN that after the airplane came to a standstill: “We were upside down hanging like bats.” He added that some who were strapped in needed help getting down from their seats.
I mean, $30k is no small potatoes for the average person, but I’m old enough to remember when Oceanic Airlines gave the survivors of Flight 815 cash and free plane rides for life after they survived their crash on a supernatural island in the middle of the Pacific. (Sorry, couldn’t resist a little LOST joke.) But in all seriousness, that is more money than I expected to hear mere days after the crash happened. WTF does “no strings attached” really mean? That they can still sue Delta? That Delta is cool with them still appearing on talk shows and sharing their story publicly? Pete Buttigeg isn’t in charge of the Dept of Transportation anymore, and I doubt that dude from The Real World is going to enforce any legal action or fines against the airlines anymore. I’m so curious to know more about how this all plays out.
This crash actually inspired Mr. Rosie and I to rewatch the crash scene from Sully the other night and then go down the rabbit hole of real-life footage and interviews. Out of curiosity, I looked up what those passengers received. The survivors of Flight 1549 only received $5,000, a ticket refund, and a letter of apology from US Airways. I wonder if Delta also included an apology letter with that $30k.
Something’s going on in the skies, and it’s getting harder to ignore. Four major plane crashes. 85 lives lost. 15 aviation incidents in just the first six weeks of 2025.
And now, a Delta flight just flipped on the runway in Toronto, adding to the chaos.
So what’s changed?… pic.twitter.com/UYNMhkjx85
— Brian Allen (@allenanalysis) February 17, 2025
I mean Flight 1549 was 16 years ago so $5,000 with Trumpflation, $30K sounds comparable to me.
If it truly is “no strings attached” they should all pocket the $30K and then use it to fund a class action lawsuit against Delta.
Delta is probably pulling a Norfolk Southern/ E Palestine OH stunt with this offer.
If Delta really isn’t preventing them from suing if they take the $30K, no need to even use it to fund litigation. Lawyers usually take these kind of cases on a contingency basis, where the client only pays them if they win!
Yeah, I’m going to need more than that for the lifetime of trauma work I’d have to do in therapy after surviving a plane crash.
Same… $30,000 doesn’t go all that far towards treating a lifetime of trauma and PTSD, so that would be a hard pass from me.
I’m going to assume no strings goes more for the airline than the passengers. Wonder what they are trying to get ahead of here.
As people have said before, it’s lawsuits. Giving people $30k in exchange for signing away their right to sue before they might realize they have emotional trauma that requires therapy or chronic injuries from hanging upside down before being evacuated.
Delta has publicly said no strings attached and the payment does not affect the passengers’ rights so they are not waiving their right to sue
also, Delta has an “advance payment clause” where they offer an advance payment of at least $21K if a passenger dies. This clause doesn’t offer payment in exchange of waiving any rights.
It sounds like this is a goodwill gesture to offer some money quickly for victims to deal with any pressing financial issues as a result of the accident. The passengers shouldn’t just say no out of fear that Delta will screw them, I’m sure Delta will have to provide the passengers with written documentation that they can have a lawyer look at to confirm there isn’t any small print waiver to accept the offer
The accident happened in Canada so even if their rights are gutted in the US (I expect Trump will overturn all consumer protections (especially the new ones Biden beefed up when he was in office) their rights will be protected in Canada.
“Alan Tan, an aviation law professor at the National University of Singapore, told BI the payment was “appropriate as an advance gesture, particularly for passengers who have minimal or no injuries.”
He added that passengers could still sue Delta for more compensation if they could prove loss or damage.
Tan said the rights of Delta’s passengers were protected under the Montreal Convention, an international agreement that holds airlines liable for any physical injuries or deaths that occur on international flights. Both the US and Canada have signed the agreement.
Under the Montreal Convention, the $30,000 isn’t a recognition of Delta’s liability, Tan said.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/public-safety-and-emergencies/general/legal-experts-weigh-in-on-delta-s-30-000-no-strings-attached-payment-to-passengers-after-crash-landing-incident/ar-AA1zqvNe
That’s a very nice gesture. That runway looked to be covered in places with lots of snow and it may have hit a small patch of ice for it to have flipped over but what do I know I’m not a accident investigator.
MAGA bigots are out of control over this one. They are blaming everything on women “DEI” pilots, claiming women lack the capacity to fly airplanes. The captain of the Delta Endeavor flight was a white man but MAGA insists otherwise
The blaming is indeed out of control. I heard a theory that Musk was behind the firings of air traffic personnel. His Space X mission was deemed dangerous by the air traffic control, so he had to get rid of them. Including the ones with decades long careers behind them.
Makes sense, especially since he’s been posting that these crashes mean the FAA is broken beyond repair and Space X should be contracted to get them/”us” out of this mess.
F*&^ everything up (especially anything that gets in your way of a profit) so it can’t function correctly, and then put MuskTrump or their cronies’ companies so can they make big bucks off of American tax payers, seems to be the entire playbook right now (at least, the parts not being dictated to them by Putin).
So innocent people die in the meantime? Too bad so sad. (<< Sarcasm, of course)
I can't believe this is what our nation has come to…
I am still amazed that everyone on that plane is alive.
Holy Seatbelts Batman.
Not sure how to write what I want to say. So many (near) accidents involving American planes have been in the news in the past few weeks. The past few years, Boeing the company dominated (near) accidents, now it’s actual aircraft. CFDT et al attacking the FAA and air traffic controllers hasn’t helped.
So, hearing the $30 thousand dollar offer with no strings attached, my first instinct is to look for what Delta is trying to hide. However, maybe this is genuine because Delta might have seen lots of cancellations and less ticket sales before this Toronto accident due to nervous flyers reacting to other disasters and Trump’s policies? In that scenario, I could see them trying to keep customers where they aren’t trying to cover something up? The weather was terrible, but I’ve never seen videos of planes doing that–it’s a miracle only 18 were badly injured. Bottom line: I don’t know if the offer was not intended to cover up something malafide or not, and I’m scared to fly.
We have to fly to Korea for work in a few weeks and my elementary school aged child (who has been flying since infancy and has never been bothered by airplanes before) is terrified we will die.
I can absolutely see people avoiding flying as these have moved quickly from freak accidents to once-a-week happenings…
So I agree Delta might be trying to get out ahead of a growing problem…
I have to fly next week to Europe for work and I am flying Delta. The Potomac crash happened just a week after I returned home from Europe for work as well. I don’t think I’ll be flying for a good while after this trip. 30K is very generous for an airline but it pales in comparison to what those passengers and the crew now have, so much trauma and a possible lifelong fear of flying. Having seen the footage, it was VERY windy and there was a lot of snow and maybe ice on the runway. The weather was definitely a factor and I’m surprised the plane was allowed to land in those conditions.
But DEI and all that😒😒