Passengers Injured on Delta’s Toronto Flight That Flipped on Landing Should Not Blindly Accept Delta’s $30,000 “No Strings Attached” Offer
On February 17, 2024, Delta Air Lines Flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, was flying from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport to Toronto Pearson International Airport when it crashed and flipped upside down while attempting to land. Seventy-six passengers were onboard, in addition to the pilots and crew. According to reports, 21 passengers were taken to local hospitals, with all but one released in the subsequent days. Delta reported to the media that none of the passengers or crew sustained life-threatening injuries.
Now, days later Delta announced that it made $30,000 offers to each passenger. Delta reports that the offers came with “no strings attached.” However, these offers come with little to no information from Delta on the investigation details thus far and the cause of the crash.
Passengers should contact an attorney to review any documents they are asked to sign. The devil is in the details. The fine print should be reviewed to ensure the acceptance of any offer at this point does not preclude litigation in the future. Passengers should look for keywords like “release, arbitration, waiver, indemnification, setoff, and arbitration.” These key terms are clues that the offer is, in fact, being made with strings attached and could impair their right to bring a lawsuit in the future.
As we often see in car accidents, passengers can suffer whiplash and soft tissue injuries that do not manifest for weeks or months. These passengers also experienced a very traumatic event. It is hard to say at this point how that trauma will manifest in the months and years to come. So, while $30,000 to some passengers may seem reasonable now, it could be grossly deficient depending on the injuries that develop in the future. Passengers should not accept any offer requiring them to sign documents that would impair their right to bring a future lawsuit, as these passengers do not yet have a complete understanding of any long-term injuries sustained.
If you were a passenger on Delta Flight 4819, Sommers Schwartz attorney Lisa Esser-Weidenfeller is happy to review the offer you have received pro bono. No cost or attorney fee will be charged on the $30,000 offer. Our goal is to make sure these passengers can accept this money without compromising their legal rights going forward.
