Many cases have been filed in US courts against Airblue for compensation by the families of the victims of the deadliest plane crash in Pakistan’s history, in which 146 passengers and 6 crew members had died.,
The respondents of the cases include Airblue Chief Executive Officer Tariq Chaudry, Airbus Industries (US), Honeywell International, Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation, International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), GE Aviation Systems, etc, Pakistan Today has learnt.
Reliable sources informed that Chaudry is an American national and lives in California, while the case against him has also been filed in the same state of US. The company engaged in online computerised reservations for Airblue – also owned by Chaudry – is also cited as a respondent in the case.
In Illinois, cases have been filed against Airbus Industries (US), Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation and Honeywell International, the equipment-provider companies of Airblue, and the ILFC, which is the leasing agency, and GE Aviation Systems, aviation and software providers to the airline.
The Hamilton Sundstrand Corporation engineering manager is also a respondent in the said case as he was responsible for updating any faults and problems in the systems installed by his company in the planes but he failed to do so.
One of the key reasons for the cases being filed in the US is that at least eight people killed in the crash were either American nationals or green card holders, while another reason is the lack of aviation expert lawyers in Pakistan to help the families in getting compensations.
However, the main hindrance in compensation is the finalisation of the Civil Aviation Authority’s investigation report into the crash, which is not being made public. The insurance companies work in a different manner and compensation is given on basis of certain factors varying from person to person in the defined circumstances.
About 22 lawsuits have been filed against the Airblue in local and international courts by families of passengers who died in the plane crash on July 28, 2010.
Sources informed that the management of Airblue had victimised the families who filed such cases in the US courts and withheld their compensation money.
On contact, Airblue Crash Affectees Group (ACAG) representative Junaid Hamid confirmed that Airblue and others were challenged in open courts of US by a few families solely for compensation.
It is worth mentioning that Airbus has a growing presence in North and Latin America; Honeywell has different business units including aerospace, automation and control solutions, transportation systems, etc; ILFC claims to find the right aircraft fleet solutions for its customers; and GE Aviation Systems offers next-generation air traffic management.