Earlier this week, Delta Air Lines was hit with a lawsuit that accused the airline of hiring inexperienced and unqualified pilots, contributing to a crash earlier this year. Now, the airline has broken its silence on the claim.
Vannessa Miles, who was aboard a Delta Air Lines flight that flipped upside down during a crash landing in Toronto earlier this year, recently filed a lawsuit accused Delta of negligence questioned the experience of the pilots.
While Delta chose not to comment on the pending litigation, they did at least defend their pilots.
Several People Were Injured in the Crash
On Monday, Feb. 17, 2025, Delta Flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air, crashed at Toronto Pearson International Airport when the plane flipped during landing and caught on the runway.
While nobody was killed in the crash, at least 18 people were injured, including Miles. One child was transported to the hospital and one person was airlifted to a trauma center.
Lawsuit Questions Pilot Qualifications
The lawsuit alleges that the crash was a human error, claiming that the plane was traveling at a dangerously high speed during the landing. It also suggested that inexperienced pilots played a role in the crash.
“The way our calculations, my experts’ calculations, they should have been going about maybe 560 feet per minute during their dissent,” attorney Mike Morse said via WDIV4. “Right before they hit the ground, they were at 1,100 feet per minute.”
The lawsuit also questions the qualifications of the co-pilot who landed the plane as well as why the captain did not take over for the pilot.
“The Transportation Safety Board of Canada, they acknowledged there was some inexperience in the pilots,” Morse said. “The co-pilot had been working for Endeavor and Delta for about four months. She did not have thousands of hours, she might have had FAA minimums.”
Delta Defends its Pilots
While Delta did not comment directly on the pending lawsuit, the airline did offer a statement defending its pilots,
“Captain: Mesaba Airlines, a progenitor company of Endeavor Air, hired the captain in October 2007. He has served both as an active duty Captain and in pilot training and flight safety capacities. Assertions that he failed training events are false. Assertions that he failed to flow into a pilot position at Delta Air Lines due to training failures are also false,” Delta wrote in a statement via WDIV4.
“First Officer: Hired in January 2024 by Endeavor Air and completed training in April 2024. Her flight experience exceeded the minimum requirements set by U.S. Federal regulations. Assertions that she failed training events are false,” the statement continued.
The lawsuit seeks $75 million in damages.
