After the plane had a catastrophic accident, how are the relatives of the deceased passengers compensated?
On the afternoon of March 21, the passenger plane MU5735 of China Eastern Airlines had a tragic accident in Teng district, Wuzhou city, Guangxi province. Departing from Kunming, 123 passengers and 9 crew members never reached their intended destination, Guangzhou.
This is not the first time a tragic plane crash has happened. Aviation is considered the safest mode of transportation, but when something goes wrong, the consequences are always tragic. Behind the irreplaceable human damage, how will the families of the ill-fated passengers receive compensation? How much is the airline responsible for?
In 2019, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on a draft decree being consulted by the Ministry of Transport, the level of compensation for damage of airlines during transportation is calculated according to the SDR calculation unit of the Fund. International Monetary Fund (MIF).
The reason is that SDR is okay The 1999 Montreal Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules for International Carriage by Air taken as the carrier’s unit of compensation in carriage by air for damage caused to passengers, baggage and goods, including the cause of delay in carriage.
Accordingly, the draft decree sets the limit of the airline’s liability to compensate for loss of life and health of passengers at 128,821 SDR per passenger. If converted at that time, 1 SDR is equivalent to 31,801 VND, the maximum compensation for life and health for each passenger is equivalent to 4.1 billion dong.
Talking to Tuoi Tre Online, Mr. Vo Huy Cuong – Deputy Director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam at that time said that the draft decree was intended to regulate the liability insurance of airlines under the 1999 Montreal Convention. this convention is universally agreed on the insurance liability of airlines in the event of death or injury of a passenger due to an accident or incident; luggage, lost goods, slow shipping.
Convention for the Unification of Certain Rules Relating to International Carriage by Air (Montreal 1999).
Article 17. The carrier shall be liable for damage incurred in the event of death and injury of a passenger or any bodily injury of the passenger, if the accident causes damage on board the aircraft or in loading and unloading operations.
“Vietnam just joined the Montreal Convention at the end of 2018. The compensation value under the Montreal Convention changes periodically, so when there is a change, Vietnam must also make timely adjustments to the convention,” explained Mr. Cuong. The highest level of compensation in the draft decree is updated according to the SDR increase expected under the Montreal Convention as of December 28, 2019.
However, under the same convention, under Article 20, the Carrier shall not be liable, if the carrier can demonstrate that it and its agent have taken all measures to avoid damage or have been unable to take such measures.
World history records many catastrophic plane crashes and the story of compensation behind them (Synthesis by Young Knowledge)
Tenerife airport disaster – Dutch national airline KLM
March 27, 1977 is considered one of the darkest days in world aviation history. At Tenerife airport (Spain), two Boeing 747 KLM Flight 4805 and Pan Am Flight 1736 crashed into each other on the runway at this airport in dense fog. As a result, 583 people died immediately. , two planes were completely damaged and this became one of the deadliest accidents in aviation history.
Through the investigation process, it was concluded that the main fault belonged to the captain of the KLM flight who controlled the plane to take off without the permission of the air traffic control tower.
Map depicting the collision between two planes – Source Science.tv
Dutch authorities later admitted KLM’s responsibility in the accident. KLM has compensated victims or their families with fees ranging from $58,000 to $600,000.
Japan Airlines – Flight 123 in 1985
Flight 123 on 12/08/1985 was a domestic flight operated by a Boeing 747 – 146SR from Tokyo to Osaka. The aforementioned Boeing flew 25,030 hours and had its tail repaired in an accident seven years earlier.
The ill-fated plane was taken 3 years before the accident – in 1982. Source: Khoahoc.tv
After taking off for 44 minutes, due to the pressure difference at an altitude of 7,300m, the repaired tail section cracked, causing damage, making the pilot unable to control and control the situation. The end result was the catastrophic crash of the Boeing into Mount Takamagahara, killing all 520 people on board.
Only 4 people were lucky to escape death in the disaster. The cause was later discovered: the plane crashed because the tail section was repaired incorrectly, so it could not withstand the high pressure, causing the plane to crash and explode.
After the accident, Japan Airlines did not admit its liability. Instead, the company sent the victims’ families a total amount of 7.6 million USD (about 159.6 billion VND) in the name of “consolation money”. On average, each victim received about 304.5 million VND.
Air France – flight 447 in 2009
On June 1, 2009, an Air France Airbus A330 took off from Rio de Janeiro to make its way to Paris on flight 447. However, the plane carried 216 passengers and 12 crew members. This group never fulfilled its mission.
The process of recovering the ill-fated plane from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean – Scientific source.tv
After many investigative efforts, in a report dated July 5, 2012, the authorities said that the plane crashed because of faulty systems, disconnections as well as the untimely response of the crew. For the above reason, the family of each ill-fated passenger received 17,500 euros in compensation (about more than 507 million VND).
Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17 in 2014
On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17 crashed 30 meters from the Russia-Ukraine border, killing all 298 passengers and crew. According to Catherine Thomas, director of analytics at AMBest, while the exact details of this accident are yet to be determined, the total amount of insurance claims will likely cover passenger liability. and physical compensation of the aircraft.
At that time, the physical damage was estimated at $100 million and this figure was assessed as certain and reasonable. It is predicted that if the downing of the plane is confirmed to be correct, the insurance companies accepting the war risks policy will be liable, not the policy’s insurers. all risks.
Then in July 2014, Zing reported that according to information from the Vietnamese victim’s family present on the fateful flight MH17 (Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Minh – with 2 children), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had just announced the compensation for the victim. each victim on the flight is 170,000 USD. Thus, the family will receive a total of 510,000 USD (about 10.8 billion VND) in this tragic accident.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that this information was provided by the Malaysian side and it was not clear whether the insurance company, the airline or any other entity paid for it.
No matter how much material compensation, the pain of losing a loved one can’t be compensated for forever, I hope every passenger on each flight will have “Ten thousand miles of peace”.
By Business and Marketing
at Blogtuan.info – Source: cafebiz.vn – Read the original article here
