'Crash victims' kin to get $165 million

Biggest settlement in RP aviation history

DALLAS, TEXAS—Insurance companies have agreed to pay $165 million to settle lawsuits brought by relatives of those killed in the crash of an Air Philippines Boeing 737 on Samal Island in 2000, said to be the biggest settlement in Philippine aviation history.

The families of about 100 of the 131 people killed in the crash sued the United States companies that owned the plane and leased it to Air Philippines, accusing them of providing a worn-out plane in need of constant maintenance that the airline was incapable or unwilling to do.

After legal fees of about one-third of the award, the families will get on average more than $1 million each, according to Donald J. Nolan, whose Chicago law firm took the lead in the case.

The judge must still approve disbursements from a trust fund to individual families, which will receive varying awards.

The lawyer said Air Philippines, owned by beer and tobacco magnate Lucio Tan, offered the families about $20,000 each.

While on a commuter flight from Manila to Davao on April 19, 2000, Air Philippines Flight 541 crashed into the side of a hill on Samal Island at about 7 a.m., just a few kilometers from the Davao International Airport, as the pilot made a second attempt to land on the runway. All 124 passengers and seven crew members were killed.

Witnesses saw the Boeing 737-200 to have been on fire before it crashed into the coconut plantation on Barangay San Isidro in Babak town.

It was said to be the country’s worst air tragedy.

An earlier report said pilot error caused the crash, but this was rejected by relatives of the fatalities who filed the case against the US companies in a state court in Chicago. It was scheduled for trial in September but was settled in late February by Air Philippines’ insurers, who negotiated on behalf of the plane’s suppliers. Neither the US companies, Air Philippines nor the insurers admitted responsibility.

Nolan said the amount of the settlement will improve safety in developing countries, where carriers often buy aging aircraft no longer wanted by US airlines.

The Air Philippines Boeing 737 that crashed was made in 1978 and operated for 20 years by Southwest Airlines Co., which was recently slapped with a $10.2-million fine by US regulators for flying 737s without making required inspections for cracks in the fuselages.

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source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/