Finger Pointing is Expected
Our hearts go out to the families of the passengers and crew who perished in the Jeju Air crash at Muan Airport in Korea on December 29. While the causes of the accident will ultimately be determined by the South Korean Aviation and Railway Accident Investigation Board (ARAIB), Aviation Law Group cautions people not to jump to conclusions and to be careful about news of the crash, especially on the internet. Yet, when there are multiple potential causes, as early facts might suggest, this may give rise to finger-pointing between the parties involved.
With that said, our initial investigatory group is assembling to discuss facts surrounding the accident. Our team includes pilots, airline jet pilots, and aircraft mechanics. While we could comment on some of the facts known to date, we have decided to hold off until more is known. However, based on the limited facts released so far, it appears that human error on multiple levels could be involved.
With that said, Aviation Law Group attorney Robert Hedrick has previously worked on a Boeing 737 accident that involved a gear-up landing (landing gear did not come down). “These can be challenging and complicated cases”, he said, but he cautioned, “this is not to say that there was a defect in the Jeju Air 737; we need to wait until more evidence is available, including information from the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder, which will reveal what the pilots were discussing before and during the accident sequence.” Early cause speculation is usually incomplete and, in some cases, completely wrong.
Legal claims against involved air carriers, including Jeju Air (will most likely be governed by the 1999 Montreal Convention, which entered into force in both the Republic of Korea (December 29, 2007) and Thailand (December 10, 2017). However, as Mr. Hedrick warned, the application and effect of the Montreal Convention are dictated by each passenger’s ticket, including the requisite element of at least one international leg. Article 1(2) of the Convention sets forth the required “international carriage.” Once the Convention applies, it dictates “Certain Rules” for passenger claims, including claims for death and injury (Article 17) and compensation for deaths and injuries (Article 21), to identify just a few provisions.
With regard to jurisdiction, i.e., in which country claims can be filed, Article 33 of the Convention importantly governs where legal actions can be filed against air carriers. Again, these rules are just for claims against air carriers and not others such as Korean air traffic control and The Boeing Company. If there are claims against Korean air traffic control, jurisdiction will likely only lie in the Republic of Korea. With regard to any potential claims against Boeing, as was seen in the cases arising out of the Boeing 737Max accidents (Lion Air on October 29, 2018, and Ethiopian on March 10, 2019), many of those cases were filed in the United States. With Boeing’s corporate headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, any claims can be brought there or in Washington State, which is Boeing’s principal place of business and where the 737 design and construction takes place. Aviation Law Group is also headquartered in Washington and has handled numerous claims against U.S. and international airlines and against Boeing.
While Aviation Law Group will monitor and investigate more facts as they become known, we welcome families who lost a loved one to reach out to us to discuss the accident or if you have any questions.