Dana crash: 23 families seek amendment to compensation

punchng.com

Twenty-three families of the Dana Air plane crash victims have applied to the Federal High Court in Lagos to amend their compensation claims. The Justice Mohammed Idris court fixed October 21 for hearing of the case, which was brought against Dana Air and the Estate of Pilot Peter Waxtan by the families.

The Dana Air’s McDonnell Douglas MD-83, operating as Flight 992, had crashed into a two-storey building at Iju, Ishaga, a Lagos suburb, killing all 153 people. The incident, which happened on June 3, 2012, had generated controversies, among which was claims by some families of the victims that they had yet to be paid compensation.

A statement on Tuesday said 23 of the victims’ families wanted a review of their compensation claims due to time lapse and other developments. It said, “The plaintiffs, among others, prayed for an order directing Dana to pay them the statutory advance payment of US $30,000 in full, or the outstanding due advance payment.

“They sought interest on the sum at the rate of 21 per cent per annum from July 4, 2012, the 30th day after the air crash and the date on which the payments ought to have been made, until the date of the court’s order. “They also sought the costs of the applications assessed at US$10,000.00 each.”

The applications were said to have been filed on the families’ behalf by a consortium of lawyers, Aviation Attorney Group, led by Oba Nsugbe of Pump Court Chambers. “Section 48 (3) of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act 2006 requires a carrier to make advance payments of at least $30,000 within 30 days from the date of an accident resulting in death or injury of passengers, to the natural person or such natural persons who are entitled to claim compensation,” the statement added.

Dana Air and its insurers are said to have failed to pay the statutory advance compensation of $30,000 to the families of several victims of the air crash. In their defence, Dana Air and Stacey Veolette Sellers (who was sued as the personal representative of the Estate of Mr. Peter Waxtan – the late pilot of the air craft) denied liability and disagreed with the interpretations the plaintiffs placed on relevant provisions of the convention and the NCAA 2006 vis-à-vis their claims.