Kathmandu. The Kathmandu District Court has given a historic verdict in the US-Bangla Airlines plane crash at Tribhuvan International Airport in 2018. The court confirmed the serious negligence of the pilot and the cockpit crew and ruled that the airlines will be forced to pay unlimited compensation beyond the limits set by international law.

This judgment is the first time in Nepal that an international airline has been held liable beyond limited liability in an aircraft accident. On March 12, 2018, a 76-seater Bombardier Q400 aircraft coming from Dhaka to Kathmandu went out of control during landing and crashed with fire, killing 51 people. Among the dead were 22 Nepali, 28 Bangladeshi and one Chinese citizen.

Pilot's negligence confirmed, limitation of liability waived

In the judgment given by Judge Diwakar Bhatt, it has been held that the accident was due to the careless, careless and imprudent decision of the pilot and co-pilot. According to the court, in such a situation, the limited compensation under the Warsaw Convention 1929 and the Hague Amendment 1955 does not apply, but according to Article 25, the airline is unlimitedly liable. "The nature of the accident, the behavior of the cockpit crew and the violation of safety standards cannot be considered as normal errors," the judgment said.

Over $2.7 million in compensation to 17 families

The court has ordered US-Bangla Airlines to pay a total of 2740 thousand US dollars (about 378 million rupees) to the 17 victim families after deducting 20 thousand US dollars per family already received from the insurance. The families of MBBS students, doctors, nurses and other passengers have been compensated at different rates depending on the victim's age, education, income potential, dependent members and mental damage.The court rejected the airline's claim

US-Bangla Airlines had already paid 20,000 dollars in damages, claimed that the case could not be tried in Nepal and that the final destination was Dhaka so the Nepali court would not have jurisdiction. But the court confirmed the complete jurisdiction of the Nepali court based on the fact that the accident took place in Kathmandu, the victim was a Nepali citizen and the passengers were returning to Nepal on a round-trip ticket. Earlier, the Patan High Court had also upheld the jurisdiction of the Kathmandu District Court in this case.

In the aviation history of Nepal, almost 1000 people died in about 70 plane crashes in Najirnepal in the last seven decades, but so far there was no example of any airline being held directly financially responsible by the court. This decision, which came after a seven-year long legal battle, is seen as a historical precedent not only for the victims' families, but also for Nepal's aviation safety, justice system and passenger rights.