It is one year since the date of air crash which took place in Bajpe, Mangalore. The Air India Express Flight 812 a Boeing 737-8GH registration VT-AXV carrying 160 passengers and 8 crew members on a schedule flight from Dubai to Mangalore on 22-05-2010 crash landed at Mangalore Airport killing all the passengers but eight who survived the same. The plane overran the runway while landing at Mangalore Bajpe Airport. It fell over a cliff and caught fire The wreckage was spread all over the place causing the death of all passengers except 8 who were miraculously survived. The cause of the accident was the result of the negligence of the Senior Pilot on board as per the Report of the Commission of Enquiry which has been submitted to the parliament. Therefore it cannot be called as an accident but a manslaughter in broad day light. It is alleged that the pilot was fatigued due to over work and was in fact unwilling to take the plane to Mangalore. There are several stories about the conversations between him and his co-plot taken place at the time of landing. That shows that the Administration of Air India Express was callous and impervious to the lives of it‟s guests who perhaps unfortunately decided to fly by Air India Express The Aviation experts opine that the accident could have been averted if the pilot was diligent. Since the crash took place while landing, there were several relatives of the passengers who witnessed this horrible and horrendous scene . They saw with their own eyes. either their husbands or the children or relations or friends being burnt alive. It became the worst moment of their lives which still haunts them as they recount that ghastly scene. One of them was a pregnant woman who had come to receive her husband who had come for the pre-delivery ceremony. One passenger had come for his marriage and the would be bride was there in the airport. The relations had to search for the charred bodies in the rubble of the plane crash site. The bodies were burnt to such an extent that they were beyond identification. It was by identifying from the articles found on the bodies which stood the heat of the fire, some of them could be identified by their relations. The bodies were never cared for by the authorities at Mangalore as could be seen from the news flashed on the TV and print media. The bodies were taken to the City Morgue where they were thrown around on the ground without any cloth cover. No respect was shown to the dead. The atmosphere in the morgue was stinking and there
was not even a watchman posted to protect the bodies from the thieves who were trying to loot the valuables whatever that were left on the bodies whereas police were posted at the spot of crash to protect the remnants of the aircraft. The politicians came in large numbers by flying to Mangalore in the guise of consoling the bereaved. Perhaps to facilitate their visits, the airport was opened immediately. But they could hardly talk to the victims relations. The Minister for Civil Aviation came and tried to console the victims. In order to re- assure the families who had lost their next of kin and sole bread winners in some cases, he announced that it was in the interest of these kind of people that his Government incorporated the Montreal Convention of 1999 in Carriage by Air Act in June 2009 thereby giving statutory recognition to the said convention. He announced in the Press Conference that as per the said convention which has been adopted by India that next of kin of each victim would get a minimum of Rs. 76.4 lakh. He also announced that a sum of Rs. 96,000/- would be paid towards loss of baggage The sympathy wave which these politicians had created made one feel that they had not lost everything and the Airlines and the Government would be on their side. But the later development showed that it was only an eye wash. The Airlines had brought a team called “ Air angels” to counsel the relatives of the victims. But due to language problem they were not of any assistance. Perhaps they had collected a hefty fees for the service. To show to the world that the Airlines would like to perpetuate the memory of the dead, the Air Lines even held a Condolence meeting at TMA Pai Convention Centre with all fan fare. It turned out to be a function to allow the politicians and the Air Lines personnel to mislead the public about the help which it would give to the next of kin of the victims. They used the platform to assure the public, whom they know that they won‟t be meeting again later on, that everything would be done to restore their hopes and aspirations and their style of life. But the families members of the victims say that not a single personnel from the Airlines tried to identify the victims‟ relations to console them There is no report of the officials of Airlines having visited any of the houses of the relations. It appeared as though to display to the public the alleged concern of the Airlines, after sometime, a marble Memorial Plaque was erected at the crash site on which the names of the passengers who were perished in the accident were carved out and displayed. The Airlines invited the next of kin to pay floral tributes to the dead. The family members
who were undergoing emotional upheavals went to the spot and paid floral tributes. In fact, while erecting the said plaque on the road side neither the consent of the owners of the crash site nor the consent of the next of kin was taken. No arrangements were made to protect the same from sun and rain and from anti social elements who believe in vandalizing public property. Family members and even public at large used to daily beeline to the said memorial Plaque either to pay homage to the unfortunate passengers who had flown by the said airline or to lay floral tributes at the foot of the board. It had become almost a shrine where the bereaved family could emotionally identify with the departed ones. The family members had attached lot of sentiments to the said place and the board. But the callous attitude of the Airlines who had not posted any security at the place or secured the board gave an opportunity to some miscreants to destroy the same by pelting stones at it. In fact this was like adding insult to the injury of the family members. This circumstance was created due to the irresponsible manner in which the plaque was displayed. If actually the Airlines wanted to pay homage to the victims, it would have acquired the land and put up a proper memorial in that site or near about. But the attitude of the Airlines showed that it was a mere eyewash intended to mislead the public. The said destruction has hurt the feelings of the family members which cannot be described in words. It was the headlines story in all the national channels and other media. They had shown the photographs of the damaged board ( see above ) where one could read part of the names on the broken Board. This further aggravated the grief of the family members They never thought that their loved ones would become one day the victims of vandalism. But the Airlines did not even express any regrets for such vandalism. It suspected that it was done by the relations of the victims. The ordeal of the dependents and relations of the victims did not end there. Though the Minister for Civil Aviation had announced a minimum compensation of Rs. 76.4 Lakhs to each the next of kin of victims, the same was interpreted by the Management of the Airlines as “upto” and that too depending on the profile of each victim. How many of the public know this and the humiliation the victims have to undergo even to get the compensation legally they are entitled to get from the Airlines. For baggage loss, the Minister had announced a compensation of Rs. 96,000/-, even this was reduced to Rs. 70,000/-. It is a known fact that the people who return from Dubai to their native places come with several gifts, gold ornaments, electronic goods etc. But this aspect was completely ignored by the airlines.
The victims family members allege that the Airlines is taking undue advantage of their ignorance. Several, nay 50 % of them are from Kerala. Most of them are muslims and many of the dead are either children or women. The compensation is payable under the Montreal Convention to which India is a signatory. In fact, this is what our then Union Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said on May 22, Saturday, at a press conference held at the Bajpe Airport that Air India will give the families of the plane crash victims a compensation of USD 160,000. and baggage allowance of Rs. 96,000/-. The minister, who had arrived on the spot following the tragic plane crash, expressed his grief and said that the incident was “tragic.” He also said that the Boeing 737-800, which was operating as Flight IX-812 from Dubai to Mangalore, had a normal flight, had no defects, and reported no problems. “This incident has saddened all of us. We are shocked and are in pain. I would only like to stress my sincere condolences to the families and also to the crew members who have lost their lives.” He went on to add or declare that compensation of USD 160,000 ( 76 .4 Lakhs ) would be paid to the families of the dead.. The compensation was never paid immediately except a sum of Rs..10 lakhs as per the Montreal convention to the next of kin of the victims for their immediate needs. The Airlines collected the Claim Forms from the Claimants and said it would like to settle the claim out of court. One should know that the claims get barred by limitation if the claim is not submitted and steps to recover the same through legal means are not taken within two years from the date of the crash. Many relatives started knocking at the door of the Airlines in Mumbai. Therefore the Airlines started contacting the claimants that they could come and meet their Advocate who would be visiting Mangalore to settle the claim. The Airlines entrusted the said task to a well known legal firm called in short M/S Mulla and Mulla. A senior Advocate with a representative of the Air Lines started holding camps in Mangalore with the Claimants. The Claimant came to the meetings thinking that the assurance given by the Minister for Aviation would be implemented. But the Airlines started contesting that declaration of the Minister and said that the said announcement made by the Minister was due to his “lack of information” of the said Convention and informed the Claimants that the amount would be paid only on the basis of the earning capacity of the victim which should reflect in the pay slip or the salary certificate. That was the first rude shock the Claimants had as they thought that all of them having paid the same air fare and having been assured by the Minister, the proceedings would start with the minimum
figure of Rs. 75.4 Lakhs. But it was not so. The entire proceedings, the representative of Mulla & Mulla said, should be held in secrecy and points discussed there should not be disclosed to other Claimants who were waiting outside the room.. In fact, he even deployed police force to protect him as he complained that he had received threats from the victims‟ relations. One should not forget that he is the representative of the Airlines and there was no scope for arguments or discussions. He would say that his entire effort is to put the family to the same position as they were because of the amounts sent by their earning members from Dubai. He is not concerned whether the son, if alive, would have earned more or would have brought happiness to the family. It was felt that the Airlines was interpreting the Carriage by Air Act and the Montreal Convention to deny fair compensation to the next of kin of the victims. The claims of the Claimants was narrowed down to only „dependants of the victim‟ by excluding therefrom the brothers, sisters etc. Where it is convenient, the Airlines would take into consideration the age of the victim and if it compels the Airlines to pay more, it would fall back on the age of the surviving mother or parents. The Claimants felt that the entire exercise was wrong as the Airlines, a wrong doer sat there as an arbitrator and the Claimants stood before it for “alms”. Matter would have been different if it was private airlines. Whereas a Government undertaking cannot ignore the human aspect of the claim. Further how can the wrong doer be the judge in it‟s own cause. As stated above, here the wrong doer is a State Undertaking. Since there were no third parties present, the representatives of M/S Mulla & Mulla , may be due to inadvertence and perhaps without meaning it, would make statements which hurt the sentiments of the claimants. It is said that there were emotional outbursts and heated exchanges of strong words when certain remarks were made that the deceased would not have brought that much of amount which the Airlines offered, if the deceased was alive. One should not forget here that most of the victims were ordinary workers or children or women. On behalf of the Airlines it was made it clear that the it would not pay more than Rs. 30 Lakhs for women and Rs. 25 Lakhs for children as they had no income. When the Claimants demanded the basis for the same, Airlines could not say how it arrived at that figure. It had no answer except that if alive he or she would not have brought even that much. Even while paying this amount, a sum of Rs. 10 Lakhs paid as interim payment would be deducted !! The imperviouseness of the Airlines could be made out because no amount was paid for pain and suffering, loss of consortium or loss of happiness etc. of the relations It is said
that the Montreal Convention read with Carriage by Air Act has excluded the application of law of the country to the claim. One should not forget that Montreal Convention or Carriage By Air Act did not say at any place that one could ignore completely guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court of India in accident matters. The famous case of Sarala Verma is a decision which is considered as a landmark decision in that respect. ( though there are some decisions which have come thereafter). Airlines would use sometime that decision for deducting 1/3rd income from the income of the deceased towards the personal expenses of the victim but would not follow the multiplier chart with various headings under which an accident victim is entitled to claim as held by the Supreme Court. Therefore several Claimants refused to accept the amount offered by Airlines. Even those who accepted were made to get lawyers so that the papers to be signed are singed in the presence of lawyers. This made the claimants to spend on Advocates in such proceedings. One should know that Advocates do not come free! The very purpose of such proceedings was defeated. A long declaration / Receipt was obtained from Claimants containing several pages with conditions which were meant for protecting the interest of the Airlines and it/‟s insurer. If anyone refused he or she would not be paid.. Though the Minister had announced that Rs. 95,000/- would be paid for baggage loss, only Rs. 70,000/- was offered/paid by him. Because of the above reasons only about 50+ cases are settled by Airlines. Majority of the Claimants are therefore forced to engage a foreign lawyer to initiate proceedings in Dubai Court by agreeing to his terms. It is not known how long these proceedings would last. A victim‟s relation has filed a writ petition before the Kerala High Court seeking correct interpretation of the minimum amount payable under the Montreal Convention. The case has been heard twice by the Kerala High Court and is now reserved for judgment. It is hoped that the judgment would be pronounced tomorrow or day after. If actually the Airlines or the Government was interested in settling the matter, it should have referred the matters to some third party such as the Permanent Lok Adalats at Mangalore which is presided over by a retired District Judge and assisted by two senior retired officials to settle these type of claims. Theses Permanent Lok Adalats should have been vested with powers to entertain and fix compensation amount. The avowed objective of the Government should be passenger friendly especially in this case where enmasse 159 passengers were killed in a State Carrier for which they are not responsible.
. The options could have been given to the parties to approach either the Mangalore or Kasargod or Kannooru Permanent Lok Adalats in Kerala and have the matters settled. These Adalalats were formed for settling such claims amicably and avoid procrastinating litigation. Who is there to hear the woes of the Claimants. The Airlines has not so far told the public how it has improved the Bajpe Airport and how is it more secure and safe than what it was last year. They have not stated why such large number of claimants have been made to take recourse to litigation when the fault of the accident squarely lies in the Airlines as per the report submitted to the Government. Over and above, one should remember that Airlines is not paying from it‟s coffers but it is the insurer who pays and it is not known why the Airlines is haggling over the amount. There is no presence of the Insurance Company which has insured the Air Craft and the passengers at the place of adjudication. It is reported that the Insurer has already released Rs. 200 crores ( Rs. 2000 millions) to the Airlines. It will receive another 100 crores towards its hull etc.. But the next of kin are still shedding tears for the loss they have suffered and awaiting to get fair compensation. This is the scene after one year of the air crash. I think this may be the story of all the airlines if they face such situations. Unless the compensation amount is fixed by applying human aspect to it, this kind of tug of war between the airlines and the legal heirs of the aircrash victims will continue. This is an account basing on the say of the relations of air crash victims.
