Delta Air Lines has announced that it will offer $30,000 to each passenger onboard a plane that crashed while landing at Toronto’s main airport earlier this week.
“This gesture has no strings attached and does not affect the passengers’ rights,” a Delta spokesperson stated.
The incident occurred on Monday when a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis, Minnesota, made a hard landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The plane flipped upside down upon impact. Flames and thick black smoke engulfed the aircraft as it skidded to a stop on its roof. Miraculously, none of the 80 passengers and crew onboard lost their lives.
Delta reported that 21 passengers sustained injuries during the crash. As of Wednesday morning, only one remained hospitalized. Emergency responders treated passengers for a range of injuries, including back sprains, head trauma, anxiety, and headaches, according to paramedic services.
Dramatic footage of the crash captured the Bombardier CRJ-900 jet slamming into the runway. The plane rolled forward, its wings breaking off, before coming to rest on its back.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the crash, with assistance from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Delta, and Mitsubishi, the current manufacturer of the CRJ series after acquiring it from Bombardier in 2019.
This Toronto incident is the latest in a series of aviation accidents in North America. Other recent tragedies include a midair collision in Washington between a U.S. Army helicopter and a passenger jet, which killed 67 people, and a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia that claimed seven lives.
