Facing 16 lawsuits for Toronto Pearson airport crash, Delta deflects blame
Delta Air Lines denies it's entirely at fault for injuries sustained in the Feb. 17 upside-down crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport, according to a U.S. court filing reviewed by CBC News.
The fiery landing — on Delta Flight 4819, operated by its subsidiary, Endeavor Air — sent 21 of the 80 people on board to hospital. The incident has prompted passengers to file at least 16 separate lawsuits in U.S. federal court, seeking unspecified damages.
At least 16 Canadians, who were among the 80 people on the flight, allege in lawsuits they were injured in the crash, which took off from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. The Canadians' civil cases were all filed in U.S. District Court in Minnesota.
"Plaintiffs claim that these injuries and losses are Delta's and Endeavor's fault, and not the fault of any other party," the companies' attorney Michael G. McQuillen wrote in a filing last month. "Defendants deny these allegations."
McQuillen said further lawsuits could be filed in the case, with "the potential for more than 70 plaintiffs." The filing, dated May 22, sought to consolidate all the lawsuits — including those filed by passengers from other states — in federal court in Minnesota.
More passengers have since filed their own civil complaints in connection with the Toronto crash. A CBC News review of U.S. court records finds five further cases were filed this week, including one lawsuit on behalf of a Canadian woman and a minor identified only as "G.O.G."
Both plaintiffs "suffered, and continue to suffer, from extreme bodily and mental injuries and economic losses as a direct result" of the hard landing, their lawsuit states. Several of the cases were filed by Minneapolis law firm Chestnut Cambronne and use similar wording.
The lawsuits allege "gross negligence and recklessness" by crew members, who were "inadequately trained and supervised" by Delta and its subsidiary. Endeavor operated the CRJ-900, built by Canadian firm Bombardier.
Dark smoke could be seen billowing from the fuselage after the mid-afternoon crash. Social media posts showed passengers left hanging upside down after the jet flipped over and came to a stop on the snowy runway.
Delta announced afterward it would offer $30,000 US to each passenger on the flight, saying the proposal comes with "no strings attached."Canada's Transportation Safety Board (TSB) found a warning system on the plane sent an alert "indicating a high rate of descent" less than three seconds before landing, according to a preliminary report published in March.
The TSB also said that less than one second before landing, the angle of the plane's aircraft, known as the pitch attitude, was one degree. The flight operations manual states pitch attitude at touchdown should be between three and eight degrees, the report said.
"It is too early to draw conclusions as to the causes of this accident," the TSB said at the time, adding a full investigation report will follow "in due course."
The allegations in the lawsuits have not been tested in court. Both Delta and the Minnesota-based attorneys who filed the lawsuits, Bryan L. Bleichner and Christopher P. Renz, did not immediately respond to CBC's requests for comment on Tuesday."The whole descent seemed to be off," one of the plaintiffs, Clayton Bouffard recently told CBC from his home in Greater Sudbury, Ont. "I remember telling my wife that we seemed to be going fast."
Bouffard said in an interview more than a month after the crash that he continued to have a sore neck and hadn't slept well ever since.
"I'm just thankful all 80 people survived that," he said. "It's amazing we all survived."
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