THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Air India Express will have to pay a compensation of around Rs 1.19 crore each to the next of kin of victims of the plane crash at Calicut International Airport as per the Montreal Convention treaty, which imposes penalties on air carriers for the death of passengers due to negligence.
Since the passengers and aircraft were insured, the insurance company will have to pay the amount to the heirs of the deceased and the injured.
However, if one goes by the experience of the Mangaluru air crash victims, the kin of victims will have to really sweat it out to get their compensation.
The relatives of some of the victims of the 2010 air crash are yet to receive full compensation even now.
A case filed by the Mangalore Air Crash Victims’ Families Association for getting a second tier of compensation for the kin of Mohammed Salam, a Kasaragod native who was killed in the accident, is still under consideration of the Supreme Court.
Advocate Kodoth Sreedharan Nair, who appeared for the family of a victim in the Mangalore crash in the Kerala High Court, said, “The next of kin of the victims are eligible to get 1,13,100 SDRs as an automatic entitlement as per the Montreal Convention and this cannot be challenged by the airline company. Further, they can also claim additional compensation based on their eligibility, but airlines can defend the claim beyond the set SDR limit,” he said.
Narayanan Killingom, vice-president of Mangalore Air Crash Victims’ Families Association, said in the 2010 crash, the kin of some of the victims had received Rs 30-40 lakh, while some others received up to Rs 3 crore.
The pilot reportedly received Rs 8 crore.According to sources, the insurance premium for the airlines will shoot up after every accident. Hence, their priority will always be to lower the claim limit for which they resort to various means.
How it is calculated
Claim limit up to 1,13,100 SDRs*.
1 SDR is equivalent to $1.41.
One US dollar is equal to L74.76 as on Wednesday.
1,13,100 x 1.41 = $159,471.
$159,471 x C74.76 = L1,19,22,051.96.
19 remain critical, three on ventilator support
MALAPPURAM: As many as 83 persons who were injured in the crash are still under treatment at various hospitals in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts, 19 of whom are in critical condition, while three are surviving with ventilator support.
The Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is currently investigating the possible causes of the accident.