Airbus charged with lawsuits for Air France crash
Loved ones of passengers killed in the doomed Air France Flight 447 have filed 23 wrongful death lawsuits in Miami against the aircraft manufacturer Airbus.
Families claim that the A330 jet went down due to several flaws in its design and components that were assembled in the US. Podhurst Orseck, a Florida-based law company, has helped families file 23 wrongful death complaints and is expecting to bring 10 more lawsuits in the following weeks.
However, Airbus, a unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, called the claims baseless. Airbus spokesman Clay McConnell said that the company will counter the complaints and have them dismissed.
The ill-fated Air France plane plummeted into the Atlantic Ocean off Brazil’s coast last 1 June, 2009 – just about three hours after it departed from Rio de Janeiro’s airport. Flight 447 was en route to Paris when the aircraft crashed 680 miles from Brazil’s coast, killing all 228 people on board.
BEA, France’s aviation investigation body, was tasked with investigating the crash. The investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash, buthave conducted a search for the missing flight data recorders, which are assumed to be lying 13,000 feet below the Atlantic Ocean.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian government has assembled a compensation committee to determine how much the families should receive from Air France. Earlier this month, Axa, the insurance company of the carrier, said it would appeal against a court ruling that requires Air France to pay each family $1.16 million in compensation.