Trauma from crash lingers for survivors of Delta Flight 4819 in Toronto

Pumping gas. Riding the train. Driving through the car wash.

In the past six months, each of those typically mundane activities brought Pete Carleton back to the time he almost died while strapped into seat 9D on Delta Connection Flight 4819.

Nowadays, the 65-year-old carries a bottle of anti-anxiety medicine wherever he goes. He is getting “gold stars” from his therapist, while finding ways to prevent full-scale panic attacks. Though he still suffers from some episodes, he’s working to get his life back on track.

“But that’s today,” Carleton said during a recent interview. “It’s still in the back of my mind.”

Carleton, who lives in Blaine, is one of the 76 passengers who was aboard the CRJ-900 commercial jet that left Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) on Feb. 17 and crash-landed on a snowy Toronto runway, where the plane flipped upside down, spewed fuel and caught fire with everyone still inside.

They all survived, though at least 21 were injured in the fiery wreck, which happened when the passenger jet descended too quickly and part of the landing gear failed. The exact cause remains under investigation by Canada’s Transportation Safety Board.

In the months since, more than two dozen passengers including Carleton have filed lawsuits against Delta Air Lines, the dominant passenger carrier at MSP, and its wholly owned Minneapolis-based subsidiary Endeavor Air, which operated the flight that day.

Delta offered each passenger $30,000 in “no strings attached” assistance and other support in the aftermath of the crash. The airline has remained quiet as the official investigation is ongoing and lawsuits against it are pending.