Ref : E&R/press/legal/flight/sam-dG

Death in aircrash: Norms set for higher compensation

IN a landmark judgement, the City Civil Court upheld Consumer Education and Research Society(CERS), Ahmedabad’s plea for higher compensation for the bereaved families of air crash victims of 1988 and doubled the compensation.

Indian Airlines Flight IC-113, which crashed near Ahmedabad airport on 19 October 1988, killed 133 of its 135 passengers. Indian Airlines announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the bereaved families of the victims as a full and final settlement.

CERS challenged the IA’s decision in the High Court of Gujarat, quoting Articles 12 and 21 of the Constitution of India, stating that the IA could not take an arbitrary and unjust decision by fixing a flat rate of compensation ignoring factors such as the age of the deceased, income, occupation, future prospects and life expectancy.

CERS contended that the act of omission or negligence on the part of the pilots, Indian Airlines and the Airport Authority of India were in fact acts of recklessness and fell within the purview of Article 25 of the Second Schedule to the Carriage by Air Act, 1972. Hence the claimants were entitled to a higher amount in excess of Rs 2 lakh offered by Indian Airlines.

Mrs Chandrikaben Anilbhai Parekh and her two sons, descendants of Anilbhai Parekh, a victim, pleaded for higher compensation and CERS joined in the suit. Anilbhai Parekh’s descendants won their suit and they were awarded a compensation of Rs 4,10,000 with interest at the rate of 6 per cent. Initially, Indian Airlines had paid Rs 2 lakh. The IA and the Airport Authority were told to pay the remainder by 70 and 30 per cent respectively.

The judgement in this case was followed in deciding other such claimants’ suits also and CERS’ interpretations seized the attention of the judge. The court observed that it was not the error of the pilot alone but also the failure of the Airport Authority which resulted in the accident.

The Court of Inquiry, formed immediately after the crash, granted permission to CERS to appear before it on behalf of the consumers of air services. The Court ended its hearings on 19 January 1989. CERS gained an insight into the cause of the accident by participating in the hearings.

Many claimants were not prepared to accept the conditional offer of payment of Rs 2 lakh as full and final settlement in respect of the death of their relatives and knocked the doors of CERS to challenge IA’s decision. CERS joined in the suits filed by the relatives of the victims and made submissions in the City Civil Court. Under the Fatal Accidents Act, no damages are payable unless negligence is proved.

CERS by virtue of attending the Court of Inquiry’s hearings proved in the court that the navigational aids at Ahmedabad airport were not functioning accurately, the Airport Authority of India had not taken any steps to commission the vital navigation, landing aid. Again the Airport Authority of India failed to ensure that the latest weather information was communicated by Air Traffic Control to the aircraft before the accident occurred.

CERS contended that the accident claims under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Carriage by Air Act, 1972 could not be compared. The Carriage by Air Act was enacted to give effect to an International Convention.

Mr Vinodkumar Tripathy and Mr Ashok Agarwal escaped in the crash. Their evidence recorded in Civil Suit No 5671 was treated as evidence in all the suits which came for hearing. Ashok Agarwal and Vinodkumar Tripathy pointed out that there was a fog in the atmosphere and the plane could not land. CERS advocates in the case contended that the plane was at the command of the pilots who had failed to take reasonable care expected of them and rather proceeded to land the plane and hit the ground owing to poor visibility.

Date : 09 April 2004
Place : Ahmedabad

Pritee Shah
Editor
INSIGHT - The Consumer Magazine

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CONSUMER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH Society
“Suraksha Sankool”, Thaltej, Sarkhej-Gandhinagar Highway, Ahmedabad- 380 054 (INDIA)
Phone: 079-27489945-46 Fax: 079-27489947
E-mail: cerc@wilnetonline.net
Web Site: http://www.cercindia.org
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