Crash victims' families seek record 132m yuan
Relatives of 32 victims who died in an air crash in 2004 in Baotou, in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, demanded 132 million yuan (US$21 million) in compensation in a court hearing in Beijing. The amount is unprecedented in China.
The 50-seat plane plummeted into a frozen lake in Baotou on November 21, 2004, just a few seconds after take-off, killing all 47 passengers and six crew members and two people on the ground. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-200 was heading for Shanghai.
China Eastern Airlines, which operated the flight, agreed to pay each victim's family 211,000 yuan in compensation.
But 32 families were dissatisfied and sued the carrier in Beijing, demanding 4.136 million yuan for each victim, Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported yesterday.
Canada-based Bombardier, which designed and sold the plane's frame, and General Electric in the United States, which supplied the plane's turbojet engines, are also involved in the lawsuit.
They were ordered to make a public apology and build a monument at the accident site, according to the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.
The families also demanded a formal report of the investigation into the causes of the tragedy.
The State Administration of Work Safety said earlier that the air crew may have forgotten to de-ice the wings when the plane parked in the airport during the cold night, causing it to lose control during flight due to ice on the wings.
After the disaster, the Civil Aviation Authorities of China issued a circular grounding all 29 Bombardier CRJ-200 jets owned by seven airlines on the Chinese mainland. The sanction was later lifted.
The 50-seat plane plummeted into a frozen lake in Baotou on November 21, 2004, just a few seconds after take-off, killing all 47 passengers and six crew members and two people on the ground. The Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ-200 was heading for Shanghai.
China Eastern Airlines, which operated the flight, agreed to pay each victim's family 211,000 yuan in compensation.
But 32 families were dissatisfied and sued the carrier in Beijing, demanding 4.136 million yuan for each victim, Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported yesterday.
Canada-based Bombardier, which designed and sold the plane's frame, and General Electric in the United States, which supplied the plane's turbojet engines, are also involved in the lawsuit.
They were ordered to make a public apology and build a monument at the accident site, according to the Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court.
The families also demanded a formal report of the investigation into the causes of the tragedy.
The State Administration of Work Safety said earlier that the air crew may have forgotten to de-ice the wings when the plane parked in the airport during the cold night, causing it to lose control during flight due to ice on the wings.
After the disaster, the Civil Aviation Authorities of China issued a circular grounding all 29 Bombardier CRJ-200 jets owned by seven airlines on the Chinese mainland. The sanction was later lifted.
Comments
Post a Comment