A special award for a Minnesotan on the Delta jet that crashed and flipped in Toronto this week.
Peter Carlson, himself a paramedic, was on his way to a conference in Toronto on Monday when his Delta Air Lines flight flipped over while landing. Wednesday, he was honored at the conference for his actions immediately following the crash.
"It says awarded to Pete Carlson for your courageous and meritorious actions," during the ceremony. "He is the first first responder on Delta Airlines Flight 4819, whose paramedic education and skills preserved life, reduced injury, and provided calm to your fellow passengers. You're an inspiration for all of us,"
Carlson was recognized by the Ontario Association of Paramedic Chiefs during their annual conference that he was flying in for. Carlson tells the Associated Press his instincts kicked in when they needed to.
"I was able to kind of see the objective nature, I guess, of the challenge in front of us, which again was to get away from threat and threat at that point was the smell of jet fuel and the seeing jet fuel come down the window," Carlson said. "And just being trapped in an aircraft with a whole bunch of strangers."
Carlson received minor injuries in the crash. All who were injured are now out of the hospital.
Investigators are still considering what cause the plan to flip, including the weather conditions, as well as the possibility of human error or an aircraft malfunction, to determine why the Delta Air Lines jet burst into flames and flipped upside down as it tried to land in Toronto.
Witnesses and video from the scene Monday afternoon shows the plane landing so hard that its right wing is sheared off. It bursts into flames before sliding down the runway and flipping over. Miraculously, all 80 people on board the flight from Minneapolis to Toronto’s Pearson International Airport survived.