Delta officials are digging into the company’s pockets, offering $30,000 to each of the dozens of people who miraculously survived a plane crash in Canada this week.
The airline extended the offer to the 76 passengers aboard Monday’s Delta flight from Minneapolis to Toronto, where the jet crashed as it landed on the runway, spinning around and flipping over in a fireball of black smoke. Authorities said 21 people out of the 80 on the plane (there were 4 crew members) were hospitalized, and all have since been released.
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In a statement Wednesday, Delta execs said there are no strings attached to the money and anyone who accepts the funds can still take legal action against the airline. They said the pre-lawsuit payouts to passengers on Flight 4819 could reach $2.2 million total.
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By comparison, US Airways initially gave $5,000 checks to every passenger on a flight after now-retired pilot Chesley Sullenberger famously landed a damaged plane in New York’s Hudson River in 2009. The money was for passengers’ luggage destroyed in the icy water.
Sullenberger and the 155 passengers on board took off from LaGuardia Airport, but soon ran into trouble when a bunch of flying geese struck both engines, causing them to lose power and forcing Sullenberger to make his remarkable landing.
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US Airways also reportedly paid all medical expenses for passengers who were hospitalized and provided them with ticket reimbursements. The airline issued an apology as well.
Regarding Delta’s $30K compensation offer, we gotta ask …
