Air India is not exerting any pressure or giving any deadline to the families of AI 171 crash victims to accept its final compensation offer and the families are “entirely free” to wait until the final investigation report is released before deciding on whether to accept the compensation, the Tata group airline is learnt to have written in its response to Radhika Mishra, the daughter of former Gujarat chief minister and one of the crash victims Vijay Rupani.
Mishra had written to Tata Sons and Air India Chairman N Chandrasekaran, objecting to the airline asking victims’ kin to forgo their right to sue the airline and other stakeholders if they wished to take the final compensation offer. In her email to Chandrasekaran, Mishra opposed the legal waiver requirement, saying that the investigation into the deadly aviation disaster in Ahmedabad was not yet complete, but the airline was asking families to permanently waive present and future claims even before all the facts were known, it is learnt. The crash had claimed a total of 260 lives–229 of the 230 passengers on board the Boeing 787-8 aircraft, 12 flight and cabin crew personnel, and 19 persons on the ground. It was the worst aviation disaster involving an Indian airline in four decades.
In its response, Air India said that the final compensation offers were made as there were a number of families that wanted to receive the compensation instead of waiting for the final investigation report, according to sources in the know. It also said that the waiver requirement was in line with the approach taken by airlines globally in such circumstances for the settlement to be indeed final. The airline has also been maintaining that it is following international norms and the compensation being offered is fair and as per the law.
Air India initiated the final compensation process in October. As part of the exercise, the airline asked families willing to accept the final compensation to give an undertaking that they will not make any future legal claims against the airline or anyone else, including the original equipment manufacturers—Boeing, General Electric, Honeywell—and other stakeholders like the Ahmedabad airport and Indian government agencies. Before Mishra, a few other victims’ families and their lawyers had opposed the legal waiver clause a few months ago.
“There is one matter we would respectfully clarify at the outset: there is absolutely no deadline or pressure on any family or individual to accept our offer within a set timeframe. It is for this reason that our offer of final compensation did not set out any timetable for acceptance. Families are entirely free to wait until the investigation report has been released, as some have chosen to do,” the airline wrote in its response to Mishra, it is learnt.
“However, it is also worth pointing out that the investigation is independently conducted by the AAIB (Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau), and therefore Air India is not aware of when the report will be released. In light of the numerous requests that we received, and conscious of our own obligations, we felt that it would not be fair to families who wish to proceed with final compensation if we were to put the process on hold indefinitely,” Air India is learnt to have said.
While the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) recommends that the final investigation reports on aircraft accidents be released, if possible, within one year of the occurrence, it is unlikely that the final findings of the probe into the AI 171 crash will be released by its first anniversary on June 12. An interim report or a status report, however, could be released by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). Aircraft accident investigations can be extremely complex and long-drawn exercises, sometimes taking years for the causes to be ascertained.
“We fully understand your apprehension in relation to the wording in the Receipt, Discharge & Indemnity document (RDI). We want to reassure you of the following: The wording used in the RDI mirrors the usual approach commonly taken by airlines, both internationally and in India, in such circumstances…families that wish to await the results of the investigation before entering into the RDI are entirely free to wait. Equally, those families who wish to proceed with final compensation have the flexibility of choosing to do so,” Air India is learnt to have said in its communication to Mishra.
The carrier also said that it has “no interest whatsoever” in shielding any third parties like equipment manufacturers from their legal liability, but in such accidents, the third parties often pursue claims against the airline, as per sources.
“As such, the reason for the broad wording is only to ensure that settlements of final compensation are indeed final, and to protect Air India from receiving any direct claims (from other family members) or indirect claims (from equipment manufacturers, suppliers etc.) in the future, despite families having entered into a final settlement with Air India,” the airline is learnt to have said.
The final settlement offers are over and above the interim compensation of Rs 25 lakh per victim and the ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore per victim from The AI-171 Memorial and Welfare Trust set up by the Tatas. The final compensation offered to victims’ families varies depending on various factors, including individual circumstances.
Compensation is largely governed by international or national aviation laws and the airline’s own policies. Under the Montreal Convention, applicable to most international flights, airlines are strictly liable for damages up to a certain threshold—currently around SDR (special drawing rights) 151,880 or approximately Rs 2 crore per passenger—and can be held liable for higher amounts if negligence or fault is proven.
In cases where foreign nationals are among the deceased, their families have the option to file claims in jurisdictions such as the country of the carrier, the place where the ticket was purchased, or the home country of the victim. Since nationals from Britain, Canada, and Portugal were among the victims, compensation-related legal proceedings in courts of various international jurisdictions, in addition to India, cannot be ruled out.
Air India didn’t respond to a request for comment. In February, when the issue of legal waiver was first flagged in news reports from the UK, Air India had said it was being transparent in its communication with the families, “suggesting options, including seeking legal advice before taking a final decision” regarding the final claim offers.
“We have ensured that the final compensation being offered to families is fair and in accordance with the law. The information about this has been shared in a transparent, compassionate way with the affected families.Following recognised industry standards, compensation payments are made on a ‘full and final’ basis in order to provide a conclusion,” Air India had said in a statement on February 12.
