What’s wrong with exchanging your right to sue for a cool $5k in cash and another G in free air travel? All reports say that the type of engine failure can happen in nearly any plane and the crew performed BEYOND admirably in getting everyone on the ground safely. Not only will I still fly Southwest, I think their offer is plenty generous. This is why company’s have insurance. Might as well use it and give the passengers something for not trying to be greedy and get more in a lawsuit.
A link to a Flyertalk thread about the accident.
Delta had two fatalities in 1996 from a blade failure on a plane from the DC-9/MD80 family. The plane was on the ground when it happened, so the survivors missed the air pressure issues. https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/AAR9801.pdf
The way I see it, Southwest will probably now be the safest airline to fly.