Final Passenger Leaves Hospital As Delta Air Lines Plane Crash Investigation Ramps Up

Toronto plane crash survivor recounts moment of impact, evacuations

A survivor of the Toronto plane crash recalled the Delta Airlines plane's roll over and evacuation of passengers and crew.

• All 21 passengers hospitalized after a Delta plane crash in Toronto have been released.
• The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash.
• Delta is offering $30,000 to each of the 76 passengers on the flight.

All 21 passengers who were hospitalized as a result of the plane crash at Toronto's main airport on Monday have been released.

Delta Air Lines confirmed Thursday morning that the final passenger had left the hospital.

A Delta Air Lines regional jet, operated by the carrier's wholly owned subsidiary Endeavor Air, crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport on Monday afternoon and flipped over before coming to a stop at the edge of the runway. Miraculously, all 80 people aboard – 76 passengers and four crewmembers – survived the ordeal. Those who were hospitalized reportedly all had non-life-threatening injuries. Officials have not yet released crew or passenger details.

“The Delta and Endeavor families are grateful that all those injured Monday have been released from the hospital, and we extend our thanks to everyone who provided care to them over the past few days,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement. “We will continue to connect one-on-one with customers, employees and loved ones as we move forward to make sure their needs are met with care.” 

Meanwhile, the investigation into what caused the incident is just beginning.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation with assistance from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and representatives from Delta and Endeavor.

The Canadian TSB and Delta reported Wednesday night that the wreckage had been moved off the runway to a nearby hangar for further examination.

"Members of our TechOps team were among the aviation professionals Wednesday evening who removed the damaged Delta Connection aircraft from a Toronto Pearson International Airport runway," Delta said in a statement. "The removal took several hours in coordination with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Air Canada – who provided additional recovery experts and specialized equipment – and was done after receiving permission from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada."

Two of the airport's runways had been closed while the wreckage was still in its original location, so removal was important to get the operations back to normal. Still, the airport's operations manager told Canadian news channel CP 24 on Thursday morning that there was no firm timeline for resuming the normal flight schedule at Pearson.

Investigators previously reported that the plane's cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had been removed and sent to labs for testing. Officials have not released any preliminary findings about what may have caused the crash.

Delta announced on Wednesday that it would compensate all 76 passengers who were on the flight with $30,000 each.

"Delta Care Team representatives are telling customers this gesture has no strings attached and does not affect rights," a spokesperson for the airline told USA TODAY in an email.

Contributing: Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.