AI Express Plane Crash: HC Reduces Compensation for Deceased Pilot's Kin

Mumbai, Oct 24 (PTI) The Bombay High Court has quashed a labour court order directing Air India Charters Ltd to pay a sum of Rs 4.63 crore as compensation to the kin of the pilot who died when the AI Express flight he was commanding crashed at the Mangaluru airport in 2010.
A single bench of Justice Sharmila Deshmukh, in a judgment of October 23, a copy of which was made available on Thursday, said Air India Charters, the company which owned Air India Express, would be liable to pay a compensation of Rs 3.32 crore computed as per the pilot's salary at the time of the crash.
It held the earlier order on compensation (of Rs 4.63 crore) suffers from perversity and warrants interference.
On May 22, 2010, a Boeing 737 airplane of Air India Express, a low-cost carrier, crashed upon landing at the Mangaluru airport killing all its 158 occupants, including the pilot, Zlatko Glusica, a Serbian national.
The family of Glusica, who was 55 years old at the time of the crash, had demanded a compensation of USD 7,45,580 claiming he was earning USD 11,000 per month then. As per the company, the pilot's salary was USD 9,170 per month and not USD 11,000 per month as claimed by the family.
In September 2012, Air India Charters (a subsidiary of Air India, then owned by the government) deposited an interim sum of Rs 3.32 crore with the office of the Labour Commissioner (Workmen's Compensation) in Mumbai.
In October 2013, the Commissioner for Employees Compensation, in an order, directed Air India Charters to deposit USD 7,45,580 (Rs 4,63,37,797) along with 50 per cent penalty of the amount of payout and 12 per cent interest per annum from the date of the accident.
Air India Charters moved the HC in appeal against the order.
The company claimed the deceased was employed with them by virtue of his contract with a private firm, Sigmar Aviation Ltd, and that his monthly wage was much lower than what was considered by the Commissioner for Employees Compensation while awarding the payout.
The high court held that the Commissioner's order suffers from perversity and warrants interference.
The bench held the compensation amount deposited by Air India Charters Ltd, if calculated on the basis of USD 9,170 salary of the pilot, covers the amount due. Therefore, there is no question of any amount due and payable over and above the deposited amount.

The bench also waived the 50 per cent penalty fee imposed on the company.