SC notice to Air India over plea for more compensation for Kerala plane crash

The petitioner submitted before the court that Air India Express offered only a nominal compensation to the affected parties through negotiating agencies.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notice on petitions filed by the affected passengers seeking compensation for their losses in the tragic Air India Express Flight IX-1344 crash at the Karipur International Airport, Kozhikode in 2020.

The bench of Justices C.T. Ravikumar and Sanjay Kumar heard the petition filed by aggrieved passengers against a division bench judgment of the Kerala High Court which had dismissed their compensation claims.

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The petitioner submitted before the court that Air India Express offered only a nominal compensation to the affected parties through negotiating agencies.

The petitioner accepted the compensation thinking that it was just an interim settlement. The top court along with issuing notice, also tagged the case along with other civil appeals pending on similar issues arising out of the Mangalore air crash in 2010.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court dismissed the writ petition saying that the reliefs sought were private and that respondent Air India was no more a public functionary after the Center’s disinvestment from the airline.

In 2020, an Air India Express flight with 190 passengers on board flying from Dubai skidded off the runway and split into two while landing at the Kozhikode airport amid heavy rain. At least 18 people died in the crash and many were injured.