‘Drenched with jet fuel.’ Delta plane crash survivor sues airline over his injuries
One of the passengers who survived Delta Flight 4819 crashing and landing upside down in Toronto on Feb. 17 is suing the airline over “severe” permanent injuries and emotional distress.
Texas resident Marthinus Lourens was “drenched with jet fuel” and suspended by his seat belt when the plane rolled over and “skidded down the runway” — fully inverted — at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Ontario, Canada, according to a federal lawsuit initially filed Feb. 20.
The flight had arrived from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in Minnesota.
“Lourens was violently tossed about and ended up upside down hanging from his seatbelt inside a burning plane with aviation fuel leaking onto him,” an amended complaint dated Feb. 21 says.
He was hurt during the landing and evacuation of the plane, which caught on fire as it touched down in Toronto, as seen in video footage, according to the amended complaint.
Everyone on board survived, including 75 of Lourens’ fellow passengers and four Delta employees, The New York Times reported. Twenty-one passengers received hospital treatment afterward, according to Delta.
With his lawsuit, he accuses the flight’s pilots of failing to “reasonably” operate and maintain control of the plane, and the flight crew of improperly evacuating him and other passengers, who were soaked in jet fuel.
He’s suing Delta Air Lines and Endeavor Air Inc., a Delta subsidiary based out of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport, for negligence.
The airline didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Feb. 21.
Delta said it’s offering $30,000 to passengers on the flight — “no strings attached,” according to The New York Times.
As the flight landed in Toronto, the aircraft’s right wing scraped the runway for about three seconds, then it flipped over, according to Lourens’ lawsuit, which says the wing completely broke off.
The crash caused “significant injuries to his head, neck, back, knees,” as well as “agony and mental anguish,” the complaint says.
Questions remain as to why the plane crashed, ABC News reported. The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating.
Lourens was hurt further from falling and hitting the aircraft’s ceiling after he unbuckled his seat belt, according to the complaint.
Attorney Andres Pereira, of Mueller Law, said in a statement to McClatchy News on Feb. 21 that Lourens “had to assist opening the cabin door as the flight attendant could not open it.”
“He then assisted getting the passengers out of the plane despite his physical injuries and trauma,” Pereira added.
The complaint says Delta employees, who evacuated Lourens and the other passengers “under emergency conditions,” gave “inadequate assistance and instructions or directions.”
A few aviation experts had a different perspective and commended the crew for quickly evacuating passengers, according to the Associated Press.
Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said the Delta crew members were “heroes,” the outlet reported.
It’s too soon to determine what caused the accident, Ken Webster, a senior investigator for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, said Feb. 18, according to the AP.
Lourens’ lawsuit seeks more than roughly $200,000 in damages and demands a jury trial, the complaint shows.
The case was filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Lourens is also represented by Watts Law Firm attorneys Mikal C. Watts and Russell Todd Abney.
The Delta crash occurred within a month of the deadly mid-air collision involving an American Airlines plane and an Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 30, McClatchy News previously reported.
No one survived, according to officials.
This story was originally published February 21, 2025 at 11:23 AM with the headline "‘Drenched with jet fuel.’ Delta plane crash survivor sues airline over his injuries."
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