A Chicago-based law group representing the families of the 131 passengers and crew of Air Philippines Flight 541 killed in a plane crash in the Island Garden City of Samal in 2000, has said that the American companies which leased the aircraft to the airline company had agreed to pay 165 million US dollars to settle the class suit filed by the victims’ relatives.
In a press statement posted in its website, the Nolan Law Group based in Chicago, Illinois, said “the largest loss of life from an airliner crash in Philippine history has led to an unprecedented settlement in Illinois that could change the way old airplanes are leased to developing nations.”
Air Philippines Flight 541 crashed in Barangay Camodmod, Island Garden City of Samal, killing all 131 passengers on board, as well as seven crew members, as the plane approached the Davao International Airport on April 19, 2000.
The aircraft, Boeing 737-2H4, was previously owned by Southwest Airlines and was delivered to the country in February 1978.
The families of the victims led by North Cotabato Vice Governor Emmanuel Piñol whose brother, Paterno and his wife and children were among the fatalities, filed the multi-million dollar suit against the Chicago-based AAR Aircraft and Engine Group and Fleet Business Credit Corporation, the owners of the 20-year-old aircraft leased to Air Philippines.
The Nolan Law Group led by lawyer Donald J. Nolan, said “these companies should never have leased the decrepit airplane to Air Philippines,” a start-up airline.
“Yet, more than 100 people died because the leased airplane was regarded as a profitable business venture, in which higher lease payments were gained because the airplane was going to a carrier in the developing world,” the Nolan statement said.
Nolan added “one of the many lessons from this case is that a company leasing an aircraft has a duty to provide oversight to ensure that passengers fly on airlines with the latest equipment, the best maintenance and finest training available.”
Vice Governor Piñol refused to comment when he was informed about the development on the case as he has yet to receive an official statement from the Nolan Law Group.
Filed under: AIRPLANE CRASH, IGACOS CITY | Tagged: air philippines, city, crash, davao, igacos
