Plane crash survivor accuses pilot of lack of experience

The female passenger who survived the Delta plane crash in Canada in February accused the pilot of being inexperienced and poorly trained.

Vanessa Miles was a passenger on the flight to Toronto that crashed on February 17 this year. The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said the plane made an emergency landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport at about 2:45 p.m. local time. Footage and images of the incident showed the plane burst into flames when it hit the runway, skidded off the runway and flipped over.

According to the lawsuit filed on July 28, Vanessa Miles, a resident of Michigan, USA, boarded Endeavor Air flight 4819 to Toronto in Minneapolis on February 17, 2025. She was an employee of Endeavor Air - a subsidiary of Delta - but was traveling as a passenger to another work location, an activity known as "freeloading".

Passengers escape from the overturned plane

PHOTO: REUTERS

All 80 people on board — 76 passengers and four crew members — were evacuated. Delta said in a statement on the day of the incident that 18 injured passengers were taken to local hospitals.

Miles and her lawyers accuse Delta of "operating the aircraft in an extremely negligent manner."

The accident was caused, at least in part, by the defendant's intentional placement of the flight in the hands of an inexperienced and untrained pilot, the lawsuit claims. "Defendant undercut safety by forcing pilots to undergo training programs and intentionally exposing passengers to inexperienced crew."

The lawsuit details Miles' injuries in the crash, where she was left temporarily unconscious, hanging upside down in the upside-down plane. She says she was drenched in jet fuel and surrounded by smoke. After unbuckling her seatbelt and trying to escape, she fell 6 to 7 feet to the ground because the emergency slides did not deploy. She then had to wait an hour in 15-degree weather to be taken to hospital.

Miles suffered serious and permanent injuries, including a broken shoulder, traumatic brain injury, back injury, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder... She is seeking at least $75 million in damages in addition to legal fees.

Delta plane after airport crash

PHOTO: REUTERS

"Ms. Miles was seriously injured when Delta Air Lines/Endeavor Air Flight 4819 made an emergency landing in Toronto following avoidable safety, training, and evacuation failures, as outlined in our complaint," Madeline Sinkovich, an attorney with the Mike Morse Law Firm, told People . "We are pursuing accountability and full compensation in court."

Delta Air Lines declined to comment on the pending litigation, though a company spokesperson said Delta "continues to support the ongoing investigation by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada."

The agency’s preliminary report, released on March 20, found that winds gusted up to 35 knots as the plane approached runway 23 to land. After a rapid descent, the right main landing gear broke and was detached from the plane by the wind.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khach-song-sot-sau-tai-nan-may-bay-to-phi-cong-thieu-kinh-nghiem-185250802075017532.htm