Delta Offers $30,000 to Passengers of Overturned Plane

US airline Delta has offered $30,000 (1.08 million Turkish lira) in compensation to passengers of a plane that overturned during an emergency landing in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, earlier this week.

Delta Flight 4819 burst into flames and flipped over while landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport on February 17.

Although all 80 people on board, including four crew members, survived the crash, all 76 passengers were offered compensation. A Delta spokesperson said the offer was "unconditional and does not affect any rights," meaning passengers will continue to have the freedom to sue the airline.

If all passengers accept the money, the airline will pay a total of approximately $2.3 million (83.5 million TL).

Passengers tell the story

While 21 passengers injured in the accident were taken to nearby hospitals, 20 of them have now been discharged.

According to eyewitness accounts and footage from the scene, the plane's right wing was torn off after a very hard landing, and the plane burst into flames before sliding down the runway and flipping over.

"From the footage, it appears that the aircraft landed so hard that the right main gear collapsed. The tail and right wing began to roll over, causing the aircraft to roll to the right," said Ella Atkins, a pilot and chair of Virginia Tech's aeronautical and ocean engineering department. "The right wing and tail were torn off during the rollover. The fire likely started as a result of the rollover and a fuel leak from the right wing tank."

Passenger John Nelson filmed the scene as he exited the upturned plane. He described how the plane made a hard landing and turned sideways before rolling over onto its back.

Passenger Pete Carlson told Canadian broadcaster CBC News that the landing was "a powerful event where all of a sudden everything just fell sideways."

Carlson had fastened his seat belt as instructed before landing. When he unbuckled it to evacuate the plane, he said he "hit the ceiling, which was now the floor."

"We all just wanted to be outside the plane," Carlson said, adding that when he smelled gas and saw fuel flowing down the cabin windows, he knew everyone had to get out. "We all just wanted to be outside the plane."

A law firm has begun representing some passengers seeking compensation.

What is the reason for the accident?

While the cause of the crash remains unclear, aviation experts are giving their professional opinions on possible factors.

Experts say investigators will take into account conditions on the ground, the pilot's actions before landing and possible problems with the landing gear.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is conducting the investigation with support from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board.

Was the pilot at fault?

Communications between the tower and the pilot were normal during the approach and it is unclear what went wrong when the aircraft, a Mitsubishi CRJ-900 made by Canadian company Bombardier, touched down.

Commercial pilot Juan Browne, who discusses aviation events on his YouTube channel, said initial data showed that speed and rate of descent, crosswinds and weather conditions were "within limits."

But Browne expressed concern about the pilots' actions before landing, saying: "It doesn't appear the aircraft made any flares. They just drove onto the runway."

Flare slows the aircraft's rate of descent.

The Delta plane was cleared to land at around 14:10 local time. Audio recordings show the control tower warning the pilots about a possible airflow "hump" during the approach.

"It was windy, but the airplanes are designed and certified to handle it," said John Cox, CEO of Safety Operating Systems, an aviation safety consulting firm in St. Petersburg, Fla. "The pilots are trained and experienced to handle it."

How was the weather?

According to the Canadian Meteorological Service, there was snow falling at Pearson Airport at the time of the accident, with winds gusting to 32 miles per hour (51 kph) and reaching 40 mph (65 kph). The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8.6 degrees Celsius). The snow had reduced visibility, Browne said.

Inspectors will look closely to make sure the landing gear was properly locked in place and will take into account personnel on the ground and in the aircraft, said Michael McCormick, an assistant professor and air traffic management program coordinator at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

"They'll look at the number of people working both on the aircraft and in the control towers. And they'll look at their schedules," McCormick said. "Are they well rested? Are they well staffed?"

But a Canadian investigator declined to comment on the initial theories.

"At this point, it is too early to say what the cause of this accident may have been," TSB Senior Investigator Ken Webster said in a video statement Tuesday as he stood next to the remains of the plane.

He said investigators would examine the wreckage and runway and removed the cockpit voice and flight data recorders and sent them to a lab for analysis.

That everyone in the Delta crash survived is a testament to safety improvements made by airlines and aircraft manufacturers, including flaps designed to deploy to reduce explosions, well-trained flight crews and seats built to withstand impacts up to 16 times the force of gravity.

"This seat is your best source of protection," McCormick said. "There's a reason flight attendants go around the plane before (landing) ... to make sure everyone's seat belted."

Is it still safe to fly?

The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in recent weeks.

On January 29, a commercial jetliner and an army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. On January 31, a medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia, killing six people on board and one person on the ground. On February 6, a plane crash in Alaska killed 10 people.

However, according to Jeff Guzzetti, an airline safety consultant and a former Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and NTSB investigator, air travel is "extremely safe."

"The odds of being injured or killed in a commercial airline accident are much lower than the odds of being killed while driving a car," Guzzetti said.

Still, Guzzetti said he was concerned about layoffs at the FAA under Donald Trump, adding: "I am concerned that the proposed cuts and changes at the FAA could increase the risk of further accidents." (Euronews)