The crash of Swissair's MD-11 last month could become something of a legal test case. The Swiss carrier is the first signatory to the International Air Transport Association's inter-carrier passenger liability agreement to have suffered a major crash. Insurers and lawyers are watching closely to see the size of damages.
Average pay-outs in the event of death from aircraft accidents in the USA are already high at around $2-3 million, but according to Alfred Merckx, a partner at London-based lawyer Sinclair Roche & Temperley, the sums could escalate. Unlike the Warsaw Convention, there is no maximum liability limit and the "-burden of proof has shifted from plaintiff to airline", Merckx points out. Claimants can obtain about $136,000 without having to prove the airline's fault and, to receive more, "-all the plaintiff has to do is to prove damages exceeding that amount". The airline has to prove that it did everything in its power to prevent the accident, which Swissair may find "very difficult", he adds.
As an extreme example of the possible pay-outs, former boxer Jake LaMotta, who lost his son in the accident, is reported to have sued the airline, code-share partner Delta Air Lines and Boeing for $50 million in actual damages and $75 million in punitive damages.
The MD-11 crashed off Nova Scotia, Canada on 3 September, killing all 215 passengers and 14 crew. Of the victims, 135 were US citizens. Swissair immediately said it was prepared to compensate relatives at $20,000 per passenger.
Source: Airline Business
