Singapore Airlines offers SQ321 victims at least $10,000 in compensation: ‘generous’?

“SIA (Singapore Airlines) will provide a full airline ticket refund to all passengers traveling on SQ321… including those who were uninjured,” it said, adding that all passengers received A$1,000 towards their expenses upon departure from the airport. Bangkok.

The spokesman said details of compensation offers would be discussed directly with affected passengers.

Alan Tan, a law professor at the National University of Singapore who specializes in aviation, noted that the $10,000 offered to those with minor injuries was “generous.”

“This is perhaps a special situation in which Singapore Airlines is being generous given the severe turbulence and huge publicity the incident has generated,” Tan said.

Airlines usually offer compensation, but passengers can accept or reject the amount if they believe their claims deserve a higher payout, he added.

“The more important issue is the situation of those with serious injuries, who will likely need time to assess their injuries and seek legal advice,” Tan said, noting that based on the assessments, the airline would rate passengers as having serious, minor or no injuries. by Thai doctors on site.

Sharon Lin, a dispute resolution partner at law firm Withers KhattarWong, said the distinction between minor and major injuries is not precise.

“There may also be significant differences in the types of injuries that still fall into the same category,” she said. “It may be the case that in the case of minor injuries, some passengers will be overcompensated in relation to the severity of their injuries, while others will be undercompensated.”

Lin emphasized that the $25,000 for serious injuries was an advance payment and not necessarily the entire amount that would ultimately be paid to the injured passengers.

Regarding psychological trauma, Lin stated that mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder must be diagnosed by a doctor to be legally considered an “injury.”

Tan, however, said psychological trauma is not covered by the Montreal Convention, which governs airlines’ liability for passenger injury or death. The term “bodily injury” used in the convention has been interpreted by the courts to mean only bodily injury, he added.

Aviation lawyer Peter Carter, director of Australian law firm Carter Capner Law, which represents some of SQ321’s passengers, noted that the payments came from the airline’s insurer, which would seek to minimize the overall compensation bill.

“Making these payments – which the airline says is a goodwill gesture – is a legal obligation,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

“All passengers should seek legal advice before signing anything with an airline. People who have suffered any injuries should take special care and be seen by their own medical specialists to determine what impact this accident may still have on them.”

According to The Advertiser newspaper from Adelaide, one of the passengers, 52-year-old dance instructor Kerry Jordan, was paralyzed from the chest down after a spinal injury.

Jordan and her husband Keith Davis, who injured his arm and had blurred vision in the incident, told the news outlet they are exploring their legal options with an international legal team.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, a database of information on airline safety issues and accidents, there have been seven accidents and incidents in Singapore Airlines’ history.