US airline Delta has announced it will compensate each passenger with $30,000 following a crash landing at Toronto’s main airport this week, the company confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.
“This gesture has no strings attached and does not affect the rights of passengers,” a Delta spokesperson stated.
On Monday, a Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis, Minnesota, made a hard landing in Toronto, flipping upside down upon impact. The aircraft burst into flames, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the air as it skidded to a halt on its roof. Remarkably, all 80 people on board survived.
Delta reported that 21 passengers sustained injuries, though only one remained hospitalized as of Wednesday morning. Emergency responders treated various injuries, including back sprains, head trauma, anxiety, and headaches.
Dramatic footage of the crash, verified by AFP, shows the Bombardier CRJ-900 slamming into the runway before rolling forward, shearing off its wings, and coming to rest on its back.
Canada’s Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into the incident, with assistance from the US Federal Aviation Administration, Delta, and Mitsubishi, which acquired the CRJ aircraft line from Bombardier in 2019.
The crash is the latest in a series of recent air incidents in North America, including a midair collision between a US Army helicopter and a passenger jet in Washington that claimed 67 lives, as well as a medical transport plane crash in Philadelphia that killed seven.