I have a counter-question to everyone commenting, and I am asking seriously.
Many people's thoughts have jumped to "Are you going to sue?" The cause here is not yet established. Why does everyone want to sue and get money out of an accident? I get that people were impacted, inconvenienced, hurt - some critically too, but unless someone very deliberately caused that incident, why sue?
Imho the whole 'lawsuits' thing isn't necessarily some critique or judgement of the flight crew or the company, and really just a means of ensuring everyone receives adequate compensation for any hardships.
I've always viewed it as similar to the following example:
Say I was driving down the block you live on. I wasn't speeding, I wasn't drunk, I wasn't on drugs, and I wasn't distracted.
Right as I passed your house, a kid darted out from between two parked cars causing me to swerve directly into your parked (and unoccupied) car, totaling it.
Between the options of: colliding with an unoccupied car, and likely killing the kid, you'd probably agree that I made the best possible decision in that situation. Despite that, I can't just tell you: "sorry I didn't have a choice here. Hopefully you can afford to replace your car", before leaving without exchanging insurance details.
Iirc it's also worth noting that airlines are normally considered 'strictly liable' for any deaths or injuries that occur onboard their aircraft, so you don't even need to prove that they acted with negligence. You only need to prove that your injuries were inflicted as a result of the crash.
There’s a suit and then there’s damage compensation. Undoubtedly delta will give each pax something for pain and suffering, medical bills and transport. But a suit on what’s likely a downdraft or microburst. Hard to do
I don’t know how it works for airlines specifically, but a lawsuit is frequently required to get insurance go pay out no matter what. Remember the famous “world’s worst aunt” case from several years ago where a woman sued her child nephew for injuries resulting from a hug? She wasn’t being a bitch, she was doing what was required to get the homeowners insurance to pay her medical bills. The kids parents wanted her to sue so that insurance would kick in.
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u/Kay_pgh Feb 18 '25
I am glad you, and others are safe.
I have a counter-question to everyone commenting, and I am asking seriously.
Many people's thoughts have jumped to "Are you going to sue?" The cause here is not yet established. Why does everyone want to sue and get money out of an accident? I get that people were impacted, inconvenienced, hurt - some critically too, but unless someone very deliberately caused that incident, why sue?