Mangalore air crash case goes to The Hague

Nearly a year after the Dubai-Mangalore Air India Express IX 812 crash in Bajpe that killed 159 passengers, the families of victims have decided to approach the international court for getting ‘the right compensation’ from Air India.

The families of the victims have jointly hired a Swedish advocate Stephen Ericson, a well-known authority in aviation accident compensation issues.

The president of the Air India Crash Victims’ Families Association Mohammad Beary said the compensation arbitrated by Mulla and Mulla company of Mumbai was not more than Rs50 lakh whereas the international norms recommends it closer to Rs1 crore. The compensation has to be paid in accordance with the Montreal Convention to which India was a signatory.

Every person who died in an air crash on an international flight was entitled to get a final compensation of $1,76,000 in the currency of the country where the air craft had crashed and at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of the disbursement of the compensation.

The vice-president of the association Narayanan said a few families have already approached the Kerala high court, making the Air India fully responsible, as a court of enquiry has already cited that pilot error has caused the crash at Bajpe.