Final 3
you're slightly missing the point (which gavpav actually got). Yes the airline will have insurance to cover it against all sorts of losses. However, in order to make a successful claim against the airline (though the claim will indeed be settled by its insurers), the passengers (or their insurance companies) would have to prove negligence.
For that you need to prove that the airline has a duty of care to its passengers (yes) and that it was in breach of that duty (er, it would appear not, on what we know about the incident at the moment).
No breach of duty = no claim.
It is, of course, not impossible that the airline would decide to make a payment in any event, either for public relations reasons, or because it (doubtless in conjunction with its insurance company) assesses that the costs of defending the claims (even if the defence is successful) plus litigation risk (there is no such thing as a 100% certain outcome in any legal dispute) means that it would rather pay an amount of compensation than go to court.