Delta Offers $30K Compensation to Passengers Of Toronto Plane Crash

TORONTO, CA — Delta Air Lines is offering $30,000 in "no-strings-attached," "does not affect rights" compensation to each passenger aboard the Minneapolis-to-Toronto flight that crashed and flipped upside down while landing on Monday.

All 80 people aboard Delta Flight 4819 — operated by its subsidiary Endeavor Air — survived after the jet crashed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday.

The aircraft, carrying 76 passengers and four crew members, rolled over upon impact and came to rest upside down, with its right-wing torn off.

As of Thursday, all 21 injured passengers initially transported to local hospitals following the crash have been released.

"The Delta and Endeavor families are grateful that all those injured Monday have been released from the hospital, and we extend our thanks to everyone who provided care to them over the past few days," said Delta CEO Ed Bastian. "We will continue to connect one-on-one with customers, employees and loved ones as we move forward to make sure their needs are met with care."

Although Delta has offered compensation, some passengers are exploring additional legal options. Canadian law firm Rochon Genova has been retained by a few of them, the New York Times reported.

Videos capture the plane crashing Monday and passengers exiting following the dramatic incident.

Peter Carlson, a passenger traveling to Toronto for a paramedics conference, told CBC News the landing was "very forceful."

"All the sudden everything just kind of went sideways and then next thing I know it’s kind of a blink and I’m upside down still strapped in," he said.

"We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries," said Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority.

"The hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement on Monday. "I want to express my thanks to the many Delta and Endeavor team members and the first responders on site.

Emergency crews arrived at the scene within minutes, and Aitken stated that the response "went as planned." He noted that the runway was dry and there were no crosswind conditions.

The Delta flight was cleared to land at approximately 2:10 p.m. Audio recordings indicate that air traffic control alerted the pilots to a potential airflow "bump" during their approach.

The plane came to a stop at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, near the beginning of the runway. Shortly after the crash, tower controllers communicated with the crew of a medical helicopter, which had just departed Pearson and was returning to assist.

“It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path,” said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“So it was windy. But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,” Cox said. “The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would lead the investigation and provide updates. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) in the U.S. stated it was sending a team to support the Canadian investigation.

Endeavor Air, based in Minneapolis, is a subsidiary of Delta Air Lines and the world’s largest operator of CRJ-900 aircraft. The airline operates 130 regional jets, flying 700 daily routes to over 126 cities across the U.S., Canada, and the Caribbean, according to its website.

The CRJ-900, a widely used regional jet, was developed by Canadian aerospace company Bombardier. It is part of the same family of aircraft as the CRJ-700, the model involved in the mid-air collision near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.