RELATIVES of the victims killed in the 2005 Helios air disaster have filed a €76 million lawsuit with Greek courts against aircraft manufacturer Boeing and defunct airline Helios, claiming emotional distress.
So far, lawsuits have been filed by relatives of 27 of the 121 victims. This number is expected to rise to 40 by the end of the week, relatives’ committee secretary Prodromos Prodromou told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.
The suit was filed only days after relatives secured a portion of the Kallis report concerning civil responsibilities, as well as the minutes of the procedure.
The report was compiled by former judge Panayiotis Kallis following an in-depth enquiry into the crash last year. The relatives have said it will be used to build a case for compensation against Boeing and Helios.
Prodromou said: “The first lawsuits have already been filed with the Greek courts and they will continue until next week for the remaining suits to be filed. Up to 40 suits are expected to be filed with the Greek courts.”
Two lawyers are currently handling the 27 cases, although more lawyers could join the class action depending on whether or not other relatives decide to sue rather than settle out of court.
The relatives have chosen to undergo legal proceedings in Greece due to its more favourable adjudications, he said.
“The settlement amounts in Greece are much larger,” he said.
According to reports, Greek civil courts award almost four times more compensation as Cypriot courts, due to Greece’s legislation.
The relatives’ lawyers have collected on the case and sent it to large legal firms in Athens, which will handle the case, as Cypriot lawyers do not have the authority to try cases in Greek courts, but can only appear as members of the public.
The remaining relatives are expected to settle out of court by the end of next week.
“It is up to each relative to decide and judge himself to what extent the offer made by the insurance representative of Boeing and Helios is logical for it to lead to an out of court settlement. Otherwise, the victim’s relative will decide to what extent it will go to court,” Prodromou added.
The committee’s secretary, who is the uncle of flight attendant Andreas Prodromou, who apparently managed to stay conscious while the cabin lost oxygen, sending two mayday messages before the plane’s engines gave out, said the lawsuits were filed on the grounds of emotional distress.
He added that the timeframe was of some concern, as the victims of the crash – especially children who’d lost one or both parents – were struggling financially.
“These finances have been undertaken by the relatives, grandfathers and grandmothers, and until they get some money things will be difficult for these people,” he said.
Prodromou said Boeing and Helios had a common insurance company and that the money finally awarded by the Greek court would also be shared out by the court.
“The lawyers have asked for €76 million, but the court will decide what amount to award and then will decide who gets what, and, depending on the plaintiff’s age, income, occupation and the extent of the emotional distress, will decide the amount of compensation,” he said.
The damages against the US-based maker of the Boeing 737-300 aircraft, which crashed on August 14 on a hillside north of Athens, killing all 121 passengers and crew aboard, were filed on the basis that Boeing was responsible for a series of design errors, including faulty warning signals that led to fatal mistakes by the pilots of the aircraft.
The relatives say the level of compensation being demanded is based on Boeing’s profit levels, which they said included an annual turnover last year of $44.5 billion and annual net profits of $2.2 billion.
It is not yet known when the case might come to trial.
In their October 2006 report on the crash, Greek investigators cited human error as the main cause of the crash, saying the pilots had left cabin pressure controls at an incorrect setting. However, the report also cited Boeing for “ineffectiveness of measures” in response to previously known problems of cabin pressurisation aboard its aircraft.
