RELATIVES OF VICTIMS killed in the 1994 China Airlines (CAL) Airbus Industrie A300-600R crash, in Nagoya, Japan, have decided to sue the aircraft manufacturer and Taiwanese carrier, for substantial damages.
Families of 124 of the crash victims are jointly seeking around '100 million ($1.16 million) each in compensation from Airbus and CAL. They are expected to file a suit soon, either in Japan or France. Another two groups of relatives plan to press independent compensation claims.
The action against Airbus will be on the basis that the aircraft was allegedly equipped with defective flight-control computer software, resulting in the crew losing control and the aircraft crashing (Flight International, 1-7 February, P6).
Relatives also plan to sue CAL, claiming that the airline was responsible ultimately for the passengers' safety. A survivor has alleged that the cockpit crew was seen drinking alcohol during the flight. An interim Japanese accident report, released in January, confirmed the presence of small amounts of ethanol in the bodies of the captain and first officer.
The A300 crash, on 26 April 1994, killed 264 of the passengers and crew of 271 on board. CAL had tried to settle with the bereaved families out of court, offering around NT$4 million ($154,000) per victim. This was rejected.
In the meantime, CAL has initiated legal action against Airbus in the French courts in a move to try to indemnify the company against damage claims being brought against it by the families. It is understood that CAL's claim against the manufacturer is also on the basis of defective computer software.
Neither action is expected to come to trial before the release of a final crash report by Japan's Aircraft Accident Investigation Commission, which is due at the end of the year.
Source: Flight International
