On February 17, a Delta passenger plane crashed while reaching its destination in Toronto, Canada. This incident sparked online discourse and shock because of the bizarre nature of the crash and the proximity of the incident to the plane collision in DC just weeks ago. To learn more about the DC incident, check out the Lobby Observer article ‘The DC Plane-Hellicopter Crash: What Happened’ written by Abbie Northrup.  

While Flight 4819 was landing at the Toronto airport, the plane burst into flames and skidded against the runway, eventually crashing and flipping upside down. Passengers and crew were suspended upside down and managed to crawl out of the capsized vehicle. Remarkably, this incident did not result in any fatalities despite the numerous injuries sustained by those on board. However, many reported that they were covered in jet fuel from the plane. Delta offered all of the passengers on board 30,000 in compensation for the emotional and physical repercussions of this crash. Despite this compensation, many passengers are attempting to sue Delta for mental and physical damage. Under the Montreal Convention treaty, which holds airlines accountable for any and all damages to passengers during flights, passengers are allowed to sue for up to 200,000 dollars and even more if the airline is deemed negligent. 

Since this incident was posted on social media by news pages as well as some of the victims of the incident, people started speculating about the pilot not being adequately trained. There was discourse of people claiming that the Pilot had not successfully attended and passed the required tests to become a pilot. Delta publically shut down these claims and was reassured that she was qualified and that these speculations were baseless. 

With the ongoing investigation of this accident, we can expect to see more details of the logistics of this crash in the future. We can also most likely expect to see more lawsuits coming to fruition as the damages are assessed.