Friday, September 14, 2001

Victim compensation next focus of airlines
By Chrissy Braden
Senior Reporter

While the country copes with the emotional repercussions of Tuesday’s attack on America, airlines are beginning to deal with the economic repercussions.

American Airlines said Wednesday that it will give $25,000 to each victim’s family as a cash advancement to help pay costs they may be incurring from the accident, according to MSNBC’s Web site (www.msnbc.com).

United Airlines could not be reached for comment on whether or not they were offering a similar cash advancement.

After plane crashes, many airlines deal with such payments as well as settlements and law suits to compensate victims or their families.

Fort Worth attorney Roger D. Brown handles personal injury suits and said an airline’s negligence must be proved before the airline is liable to pay.

A representative from the Federal Aviation Administration said an airline is responsible for the security of its airplanes, boarding and concourse areas. He said American and United airlines are accountable for the hijackings Tuesday if the airlines are in charge of the concourse areas in which the passengers were checked.

Brown said when airlines do offer a compensation, the amount of money is a calculation based on several factors.

“It’s not just a high compensation, it’s a measure of the danger someone was in, personal injury, any personal suffering, medical suffering or a loss of income,” he said. “If the victims are living, they have to show costs of their medical care.”

In order to guarantee assistance to victims and their families, Congress passed the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act after the Trans World Airlines flight 800 crash in 1996. The act requires airlines to reserve hotel rooms, provide food, provide transportation to and from the crash site and offer victims crisis counseling.

Some airlines voluntarily offer more support, according to the Plane Crash Attorney Network’s Web site (www.plane-crash-network.com).

“Most of the time, after a plane crashes, the airline’s insurance company will contact survivors or the families of victims,” the Web site said. “The insurer may offer a settlement for your loss and pain and suffering.”

But The Plane Crash Attorney Network’s Web site cautions that accepting a settlement or offer can waive one’s rights to a future claim, which could be millions of dollars.

The potential of high payments to victims’ families sometimes leads to fraudulent claims.

After TWA flight 800, children in third-world countries falsely claimed to be the illegitimate children of some of the male victims, according to an MSNBC Dateline report.

Brown said similar claims are possible after Tuesday’s attack.

“Unfortunately there are unscrupulous people who tend to do that and say they’re the product of the deceased,” he said. “But if they can’t prove this, then it’s a false claim.”
Brown also warned of problems with giving settlements to all of the flight passengers’ families.

“What’s ironic is that you’ve got hijackers that can’t yet be identified and their families may go after the airlines for compensation,” he said.

Brown said most aviation lawsuits last from one year to five years, while the memories of the crashes last forever.

Chrissy Braden
l.c.braden@student.tcu.edu