cockney steve: It's actually much worse than that!
The insurance company -
Global Aviation Underwriters - knows all about Orient Thai/One-Two-Go. They know of the fraudulent checkrides; they know of the excessive flight hours; they know there are unqualified pilots; they know of the fraudulent paperwork given to the NTSB etc. They know the airline had no safety program. Presumably, Global Aero know before the crash. After the crash, I spoke with their chief legal counsel Steven Walsh and told him of the evidence. I have internet records of him reviewing it online. They continue to insure Orient Thai/One-Two-Go is highly profitable, if amoral and even immoral.
Here are the ballpark numbers:
Orient Thai/One-Two-Go have been in business for 12 years. Let's guesstimate their insurance is $5M/year. That's $60M profit for providing the insurance, which is really paperwork and a promise to pay any legal claims in the case of an incident. OG269 happens. Highly forseeable. What's the insurance company out? About $20M by my reasonably informed estimate. ($1M to Udom for the hull, $8M-$10M for the dead and injured Americans - to help keep the case out of US court, $8M-$10M for everyone else.) Net Profit for the insurance company: $40M.
Global Areo is a Lloyds of London insurer. I have had many calls with Lloyds and with the various British regulators, asking the following question: If the insurance company has proof that the airline runs illegally and dangerously, can they legally provide insurance? Apparently, no one has ever asked this question before. It seems that so long as the airline is legally licensed by a country - which Orient Thai/ One-Two-Go are - then the insurance company has no obligation other than to pay claims.
So people who board an aircraft assuming that they meet minimum aviation standards or couldn't be insured are mistaken. Big take away: You must consider the COUNTRY overseeing the airline as well as the airline itself to determine it's likely safety.