Air India Plane Crash: UK law firm probes liability, warns families on cremation risks
A UK law firm is looking into the
Air India plane crash
that killed 241 people on board the flight, including 53 British nationals, and several others on the ground.
Keystone Law's investigation is independent of the official probe by India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau, supported by a four-member team from UK's Air Accidents Investigation Branch. The firm's focus is on potential liability and providing legal assistance to victims' families, particularly those in the UK.
Aviation Litigators At Work
The London-bound airliner that crashed on Thursday, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner powered by two General Electric engines, is now the subject of several technical and forensic investigations. Ashish K Singh, English barrister and managing partner of law firm Capstone Legal, emphasised that Keystone has nothing to do with Air Accidents Investigation Branch. 'The focus of the law firm's investigation is generally to establish the reason for the death of British nationals in the crash, which includes potential exposure of Boeing and Air India to claims in UK courts under the tort law,' he said.
The tort law, which deals with wrongs that cause harm to individuals, holds the wrongdoers accountable and allows for seeking compensation for harms from accidents to intentional acts. Aviation specialists James Healy-Pratt and Owen Hanna are leading the Keystone team and Chicago-based Wisner Law Firm is assisting them. The Chicago law firm that specialises in aviation-related litigation also advised clients in the 2020 Air India Express crash, where an aircraft arriving from Dubai overshot the runway at Calicut airport in Kerala and plunged into a 30-foot gorge, killing 21 people.
Healy-Pratt said there is an urgent need to recover and identify the deceased so their remains can be returned to their families. A senior coroner will investigate those in the UK, followed by formal inquests, he said in a statement. Healy-Pratt also issued a cautionary note for families of the deceased British nationals considering cremation in India. 'Cremated remains do not constitute a body under UK coronial law, which means they cannot trigger an inquest in the UK. We urge families to seek legal advice before proceeding with any cremation arrangements abroad,' he said.
The accident will trigger several types of insurance and reinsurance claims in India and abroad, said Consortia Legal cofounding partner Satyendra Shrivastava. 'With British nationals on board, the kin of the British passengers may invoke claims under their life and travel policies as per UK laws,' said Shrivastava. 'Apart from the aircraft hull insurance, which typically provides compensation
for total loss of the aircraft, the airline will also have liability towards passengers for death claims and towards third parties for death, injury and loss of property. As more facts emerge according to official investigations, we may see several claims against the airline and other parties,' he added.
Pioneer Legal partner Pritha Jha said law firms typically get involved to provide advice on the repatriation of mortal remains to the victim's country of origin. 'This is usually because families need to decide whether an inquest into the cause of death should be made. This is not possible if remains are repatriated post-cremation,' added Jha.
Tata Sons, which owns Air India, has announced a compensation of Rs 1 crore for each victim of the crash, including passengers, crew and those on the ground. Additionally, the group will cover full medical treatment for all injured individuals. Air India has separately committed an interim relief of Rs 25 lakh per deceased and the lone survivor among the 242 on board the plane.
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