Families of Davao plane crash victims hope for early compensation

DAVAO CITY – Families of the 131 victims of the Air Philippines plane crash in 2000 here at Mt. Camudmud, in the Island Garden City of Samal, are hoping to be paid compensation soon but they also expressed reservations over the reported $165-million indemnification fund that was offered by insurance companies in the United States that agreed to settle the lawsuits filed by the relatives.

“It’s not over until everything is over. We really do not know what the official score is. Honesty, we were surprised ourselves,” said Dr. Carlos Capitan, a dentist who lost three cousins in one of the worst air disasters in Philippine history.

Capitan was the former president of the Air Philippines Flight 541 Assistance Group Foundation, the organization of relatives of the plane crash victims who formed the group after the incident.

“God is there, we really do not know yet,” said Capitan, who announced the news on the $165-million settlement.

The Associated Press had earlier reported that Donald J. Nolan, whose Chicago law firm took the lead in the case, issued a statement about the settlement offer of the US firms.

Nolan said the amount of the settlement will improve safety in developing countries, where carriers often buy aging aircraft no longer wanted by US airlines.

He said after legal fees of about one-third the award, families will get on average more than $1 million each.

The judge must still approve disbursements from a trust fund to individual families, which will receive varying awards.

The lawyer said Air Philippines offered families about $20,000 each.

The Air Philippines Boeing 737 that crashed was made in 1978 and operated for 20 years by Southwest Airlines Co., which faces a $10.2-million fine by US regulators for flying 737s without making required inspections for cracks in the fuselages.

“It is a bit pre-mature yet. We do not know what would happen next. Nothing is final yet. We have to hear it from an official pronouncement of the courts. The defendants might change their minds and might backtrack from their earlier agreement or they might continue with the case in court. So, we really could not tell yet,” Capitan told The STAR.

North Cotabato Vice Gov. Emmanuel Piñol said in a telephone interview that the settlement was a triumph for the families of the victims who have long been waiting for the case to finally reach its conclusion.

“It’s a triumph for the families of the victims. We have long been searching for answers to the many questions raised by the incident,” said Piñol who lost a sister-in-law and two nieces in the plane crash.

He actually led the families of the victims in filing the case against Chicago-based AAR Aircraft and Engine Group and the Fleet Business Credit Corporation after they refused the settlement offer by local insurers a few months following the crash on April 19, 2000.