The two planes - a Bashkirian
Airlines plane and a DHL cargo jet -
collided over southern Germany on
July 1, 2002, near the town of
Überlingen. The crash killed all 71
on board, including many Russian
children.
Skyguide, the Swiss air traffic
control agency, said on Friday that
the claim was being made in the name
of the families by American law firm
Podhurst.
According to media reports, a suit
filed by Podhurst in Barcelona in
February has been rejected by
Spanish judges on the grounds that
the claim was not within the court’s
competence. The Miami-based law firm
filed the suit in Spain as it was
the final destination of the
Bashkirian Airlines plane.
Skyguide lawyer Alexander von
Ziegler said he had encouraged the
relatives to file the claim in
Switzerland. He said that this was
because the families would otherwise
only be eligible for $27,000
(SFr33,303) in damages per passenger
as is usually the case under
international air traffic
regulations.
Settlements have already been made
with Skyguide by other families. The
families of 28 victims reached an
agreement with the agency last June,
while an earlier settlement with the
relatives of 15 victims was signed
in November 2003.
Compensation has been reported to be
between $100,000 and $150,000 per
victim.
A report from Germany’s Aircraft
Accident Investigation Bureau
published last year partially blamed
Swiss air traffic control for the
accident. But it also said that the
crash was caused primarily by human
error.
The report found that the
air-traffic controller on duty at
the time gave the planes
instructions to avoid a collision
only 43 seconds before impact.
It added that the crew of the
Bashkirian Airlines jet obeyed the
controller’s instruction to descend,
but failed to listen to their
on-board collision warning system,
which advised them to climb.
Skyguide came in for criticism for
having only one controller in charge
of air-traffic surveillance at the
time of the crash. The company has
since admitted responsibility for
the chain of events that led to the
accident.
The controller was stabbed to death
in front of his wife in February
last year. The Swiss authorities
said on Thursday that his alleged
killer, a 49-year-old Russian
architect who lost his family in the
crash, would stand trial for
manslaughter.
Meanwhile, investigations into the
collision by Switzerland and Germany
are still underway
