A passenger who was onboard the Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis that flipped upside down during a crash landing Monday at Toronto Pearson International Airport has filed a lawsuit against the airline, alleging he suffered emotional distress after being drenched in jet fuel.
Several videos of the crash depicted the Endeavor Air-operated CRJ-900 aircraft bursting into flames before flipping on its side. All 76 passengers and four crew members who were onboard the flight survived, though 21 people suffered injuries.
Attorney Andres Pereira told HuffPost in a statement Friday his client, Marthinus Lourens of Texas, suffered significant injuries as a result of Delta’s alleged negligence.
Lourens was “was belted in his seat, as the plane slammed to the runway then rolled upside down,” Pereira said.
He continued, “Mr. Lourens was drenched with jet fuel in a burning plane, and when he unbelted, fell to the ceiling in the upside down plane and had to assist opening the cabin door as the flight attendant could not open it.”
Lourens then “assisted getting the passengers out of the plane despite his physical injuries and trauma,” Pereira said.
According to the lawsuit, which was filed in the Atlanta Division of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, Lourens suffered significant injuries to his head, neck, back and knees. The lawsuit, which is seeking an unspecified amount of damages, contends that he will continue to incur future medical expenses.
In addition to physical injuries, the lawsuit states that Lourens suffered severe emotional distress and mental anguish, stemming from being suspended upside down inside a burning plane and drenched in jet fuel.
Lourens’ lawsuit comes just after Delta Airlines offered $30,000 each to passengers who were in the crash.
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The cause of Delta Flight 4819′s crash has yet to be determined.
Delta Air Lines said in a Wednesday news release that it and Endeavor Air, a subsidiary of Delta, are fully cooperating with a joint investigation by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada and “other stakeholders.”
Delta did not immediately respond to HuffPost when asked to address Lourens’ lawsuit.