Jet Fuel and Justice: Houston Man’s Lawsuit Fuels Delta Crash Fallout at Pearson
A third passenger is pointing the finger at Delta Air Lines, dragging the carrier and its subsidiary Endeavor Air into court over the February 17, 2025, crash that turned a routine landing into a fiery fiasco at Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga. Tomas Stamm, hailing from Houston, Texas, filed his lawsuit in U.S. federal court, claiming “debilitating injuries” from the Delta Flight 4819 disaster that left 80 souls shaken but alive. He’s after unspecified damages, pinning the blame on a flight crew he says “failed to observe fundamental procedures for a landing approach, and violated international airline industry standards” while being “inadequately hired, trained, managed and supervised.”
Picture this: Stamm, strapped in as the CRJ900 barreled from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, watched it all unravel around 2 p.m. EST. The plane slammed the runway, its wing igniting a blaze as it scraped along, then flipped belly-up, shattering into pieces. “Drenched in jet fuel and sprayed with fire-suppressing foam,” Stamm’s suit recounts his harrowing escape from the smoking wreckage captured in viral cellphone clips (CBC News). Delta and Endeavor haven’t touched the untested allegations, though the airline’s $30,000 “no strings attached” offer to passengers.
Stamm’s not alone. Marthinus Lourens of Texas alleges he was “drenched with jet fuel as the plane rolled upside down,” enduring “significant injuries and emotional distress,” per his February 20 suit (The Washington Post). Hannah Krebs of Minneapolis claims “extreme bodily and mental injuries and economic losses,” her February 21 filing notes.. The TSB’s probe, aided by the U.S. NTSB, is combing through black box data amid reports of 40 mph gusts and a snow-dusted region (Reuters). No fatalities, but 21 injuries—three critical—kept paramedics busy, per ABC News. With two runways closed for days and lawsuits piling up, Delta’s facing turbulence far beyond the runway.