Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has offered experts on insurance law from Surabaya Airlangga University, East Java, to help the families of the victims on AirAsia flight QZ8501, which crashed into the Karimata Strait.
[snip]
Risma said that the experts would assist the victims’ families by examining the calculated insurance values and reading the insurance contract thoroughly so they would not become victims again.
“I want AirAsia to pay to the victims’ families thoroughly,” she said.
Interesting position to take before the full facts are known.
Five minutes of research reveals the following:
*Indonesia has ratified the Warsaw Convention but not the more modern Montreal Convention
*Malaysia has ratified the Montreal Convention
*Limit of liability under the Warsaw Convention is about $24,000 USD.
*Limit of liability under the Montreal Convention is about $170,000 USD
*An airline can be sued at its principal place of business under both conventions. There are good arguments for this being either Indonesia or Malaysia. The airline would certainly seem to be run from Malaysia.
*The carrier is prima facie liable for a death from an incident on its airplane unless it has taken all necessary measures to avoid the death under both the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions.