Delta Air Lines offers $30K to crash survivors as crews begin removing plane from runway
Delta Air Lines says it is offering $30,000 to the passengers of a plane that crashed at Toronto's Pearson International Airport as crews begin to remove the mangled aircraft from the runway.
"Delta Care Team representatives are telling customers this gesture has no strings attached and does not affect rights," Grant Myatt, spokesperson for the airline, said in an email on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) says efforts are underway to move the crashed plane off the tarmac.
"Efforts have begun to remove the aircraft from the runway, and it will be moved to a hangar where it will undergo further examination. The site will be released following further examination and clean-up," the TSB said in an update Wednesday.
Some of the survivors of the crash are considering legal action.
Two have now hired a Toronto-based law firm that specializes in aviation cases, according to the firm.
In a news release Wednesday, law firm Rochon Genova wrote that its clients were hurt in the crash and were instrumental in opening an emergency exit door to help others escape.
"With our involvement, we expect to reach a timely and fair resolution for these clients and others who reach out to us," lawyer Vincent Genova said in the release.
In an interview with The Canadian Press, Genova said that both of his clients were injured in the crash, including one who returned to the hospital Wednesday to follow up about a possible head injury.
WATCH | Wreckage of crashed plane moved from Pearson runway:
Genova also said he was working with an American law firm who had been retained by U.S. clients.
"We're probably going to start our own investigation to determine if there are any other parties that should be involved in potential litigation moving forward," he said in the same interview.
Meanwhile, the official investigation into what caused Monday's fiery crash landing continues, causing delays and some cancellations for flights leaving from Pearson.
Delays continue at Pearson airport
Delta Flight 4819 from Minneapolis to Toronto crashed on landing at about 2:13 p.m. Monday, leaving passengers scrambling to flee the upside-down plane as firefighters doused the flames.
Two of Pearson's runways remain closed in the wake of the incident, including an east-west runway that staff have described as the busiest runway in the country.
As a result, the airport had to put a cap on departures throughout Wednesday, and a similar step had been taken to manage arrivals.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Sunwing Airlines announced it was cancelling some southbound flights leaving from Toronto to "prioritize the safe return of customers currently delayed in destinations due to recent weather disruptions, crew availability constraints and extremely limited hotel capacity."
All customers will receive a full refund, the airline said.
In an update on Wednesday, Delta Air Lines said that 20 of the 21 people sent to hospital after the crash have now been released — one more than had been released yesterday.
It said its care team is providing crash survivors with hotels, meals and transportation, and is now working on the process of reuniting people with their baggage on board on the mangled Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR.
"Securing, identifying, sorting and cleaning all belongings left onboard could take a matter of weeks before all items can be safely returned," said the statement.
Hard landing gives clues to possible crash cause
Investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Tuesday they've recovered the plane's black box and sent it off for analysis, but it's too soon to say what led to the crash.
Airport authorities said the wreckage of the aircraft was expected to remain on the runway for about 48 hours until the investigators finish their work.
Keith Mackey, a former airline captain and the president of Mackey International, an aviation consulting firm, says video of the crash provides clues as to what may have gone wrong in the flight's landing. He is not affiliated with the official investigation.
"The approach looks relatively normal," he said during an interview on CBC Radio's Metro Morning. "But as it approaches, it never breaks its descent, it never flares out to touch the runway gently." The landing flare is a technique used by pilots that involves slightly lifting the plane's nose to slow the speed to ensure a softer touchdown.
WATCH | Breaking down what we know about how the crash happened:
Mackey said he thinks investigators will work to determine the forces that were acting on the plane as it descended — and to get answers on why no flare took place.
Kit Darby, a U.S.-based veteran aviator and flight instructor, also suggested in an interview with The Canadian Press that gusty winds and possible mechanical issues with the landing gear may have been contributing factors in Monday's crash.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Carbondale City Hall foyer to get facelift, display donated historic items
Carbondale native Frank 'Chauncey' Zazzera donated four handmade models of historic Carbondale buildings to the city to honor his late best friend and share the history of his hometown. While the 81-year-old who now lives in Fell Twp. hoped the city would display the replicas — the former Carbondale viaduct, a Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad roundhouse that was once in the city, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the Pugliano building at Enterprise Drive and Dundaff Street — his donation inspired a renovation project to give Carbondale's 130-year-old-plus City Hall a revitalized foyer. The replicas were all handcrafted by fellow Carbondale native Harold Ort, and Zazzera donated them to the city in honor of his longtime best friend, Roy Miley of Carbondale, who died in 2023. 'I'd just like the people of Carbondale to really enjoy it. I just don't want them to stay in my attic. Who's going to see them up there?' Zazzera said. 'This way, everybody can see them and reminisce.' Models that were inspired by churches in Carbondale will be displayed in the foyer of Carbondale City Hall Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) Built in 1892-1894, Carbondale City Hall at 1 N. Main St. is a Romanesque Revival-style brick and bluestone building that has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, according to a building study in January by Martina Bacarella Architect, a Scranton-based architecture studio. City Hall underwent a comprehensive renovation project in 1996 that included upgrading the fire-suppression system, redesigning the council chambers, installing an elevator and enclosing a staircase in the rear of the building for accessibility, but the improvements didn't touch the foyer aside from adding the current oak doors into City Hall, Mayor Michele Bannon said. The front of Carbondale City Hall Tuesday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) When Zazzera approached her about donating his collection of replicas to display in City Hall, Bannon thought it would be the perfect opportunity to upgrade the foyer. 'When you walk into a grand building like City Hall … you want it to be beautiful. You want it to be opulent,' she said. 'I thought that'd be a great way to show off our history, but at the same time, make it an elegant piece of the building.' Now, work is underway to upgrade the foyer's interior, with Bannon hoping to finish the improvements by the end of the month using a $3,000 grant from the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority. The city is also in the engineering phase of a project to upgrade its police station, which is in City Hall, including upgraded workstations for officers and enhanced security, she said. The police station project will use $300,000 in funds from the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP, Bannon said. She hopes to complete the police station project this year, though it could spill over into 2026. A view of the interior of Carbondale City Hall Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER) City Hall's foyer is currently being repainted, with other work including new furniture like railroad-style benches, displays for Zazzera's donations, revitalized tile flooring and potentially more lighting, said Bannon, who lauded the donated labor the city has received. For interior design, a local woman, Lynn Wallis, toured the foyer and gave the city suggestions for color palettes, furniture and displays. Adams Cable donated large, framed prints of historic Carbondale scenes to display; Councilman Walter Martzen refurbished and re-plastered a water-damaged wall; city zoning and code enforcement officer Doug Calzola, who is also a contractor, is overseeing the project; residents Margie Famularo and Marjanie Hellman provided technical assistance and support; and inmates from SCI Waymart are painting the interior, Bannon said. 'Everything is volunteer — the only thing we've paid for are materials,' she said. 'Every single person has donated their time, their treasures and their talent.' For Zazzera, displaying the replicas will showcase pieces of Carbondale's history that younger generations never got to see, especially regarding the D&H Railroad and its history. 'It's part of our history, and it's never going to go away,' Zazzera said. Zazzera recalled Ort, who he knew since the 1960s, building the models himself as part of a sprawling Lionel model train collection. Ort was a master electrician, Zazzera said. 'He was a very clever fellow,' he said, noting the viaduct and roundhouse were both made to scale. 'He had so many switches and components in that roundhouse that the actual turntable inside the roundhouse would turn.' After Ort died in 2018, Zazzera and his late best friend, Miley, approached Ort's wife to buy some of the buildings from his collection. When Miley passed away in 2023, Zazzera reached out to the Carbondale Historical Society about donating the items, but with the society tucked away on the third floor of City Hall, he hoped more people could see them, prompting him to contact Bannon. 'I want them someplace that people could see and appreciate what this is,' he said. The displays will be in memory of Miley while crediting Ort for making them, Zazzera said. In the future, Bannon wants to seek grant funding to address City Hall's exterior, with the largest expense being to replace its single-pane windows, which are original to the building. Several years ago, the city received an estimate that replacing the windows would cost nearly $1 million, she said. 'How can we expect developers and investors and existing business owners to make improvements in their properties if we're not willing to do them in ours?' Bannon said, emphasizing the need to use grants, donations and volunteerism to avoid overburdening taxpayers. 'I can't embellish enough how blessed we are to have so many people who want to see us thrive.'
Los Angeles Times
9 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
Free admission offered at these California national parks and forests on Juneteenth
Juneteenth, an official national holiday since 2021, brings with it free admission to all national parks and forests. It will be one of just seven such days when admission is free at national parks and five days for national forests. The holiday celebrates the last American slaves to be officially freed. They were freed by Union soldiers in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation had been issued. In Southern California, participating National Park Service locations include Joshua Tree, Death Valley, Channel Islands, Cabrillo National Monument, Yosemite and many more. For those who can't make it to national parks on Juneteenth, free access will be available on three more days this year: Aug. 4, Sep. 27 and Nov. 11. Land managed by the U.S. Forest Service will also offer free entry on the last two of these three days. Other fees for parking, tours and the like will still apply. If California residents prefer to visit state parks, they can get in for free via a pass available at any library that grants free access to more than 200 parks every day of the year.
Los Angeles Times
12 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
A Word, Please: When phrases lose their popularity
Not long ago in this column, I talked a bit about the expression 'step foot,' as in 'I wouldn't step foot in that store.' The first time I heard it, I was embarrassed for the speaker who, I was sure, meant 'set foot.' The second, third and fourth times I heard it, I sensed a change was underway — and I'm not a fan of change (that's an understatement). Eventually, I looked it up and learned that 'step foot' is slowly gaining on 'set foot,' whether I like it or not. Figures of speech, like words, evolve. Take 'vicious cycle,' for example. For a solid century, there was no 'vicious cycle' — at least not in published writing. Pretty much everyone who could get near a printing press agreed the expression was 'vicious circle.' The idea behind the expression, of course, is that of being stuck in a loop, a bad one. Merriam-Webster defines 'vicious circle' as 'a chain of events in which the response to one difficulty creates a new problem that aggravates the original difficulty.' As the 20th century dawned, 'vicious circle' continued to dominate, but suddenly it had some competition. 'Vicious cycle' was emerging as a contender. 'Vicious circle' held onto its lead until just about a decade ago, when 'vicious cycle' nosed ahead. At the same time, the original and originally correct expression 'vicious circle' started to dive. I'm not optimistic about its future. 'Top up' is another term that caught my eye lately, and not in a good way. I started seeing it in travel articles pondering whether it's worthwhile to buy airline miles to 'top up' your existing balance enough to book a flight. My whole life, the expression I heard was 'top off.' According to Merriam-Webster, 'top off' is a phrasal verb that has two definitions: The first is 'to end (something) usually in an exciting way.' So an athlete may top off their career with a final victory, or a nice dinner can be topped off with dessert and coffee. The second definition is similar to the first: 'to fill (something) completely with a liquid.' Be it a mug of coffee or a tank of gas, when it's not quite full and you fill it all the way, you're topping it off. 'Top up,' meanwhile, was a perfectly fine way to say 'top off' if you're British. But it wasn't for us, I thought. We were top-off people. Turns out that's not quite right. 'Top up' has been in print as long as 'top off,' and though the American version has always been more popular in American publishing, 'top up' has never been far behind. I was wrong about that, but I was even more wrong about 'You've got another think coming.' I couldn't understand how anyone could make the embarrassing mistake of using 'think' in this expression. Obviously, the correct version was 'You've got another thing coming.' I never considered the context. The expression follows a stated or implied statement of 'If you think X …' so 'another' makes sense because you've already had one think. Of course, a think is a thing. So it's not wrong to say you've got another thing coming. And that's lucky for modern English speakers, because Ngram Viewer shows that 'another think coming' started to decline in popularity about 10 years ago while 'another thing coming' is becoming more popular than ever — just when I was getting used to 'think.' For me, there are two takeaways from these trends. One, the language will keep changing. And two, change will continue to annoy me. — June Casagrande is the author of 'The Joy of Syntax: A Simple Guide to All the Grammar You Know You Should Know.' She can be reached at JuneTCN@
