Picard
2nd Dec 2001, 10:39
Saturday November 24, 1:25 PM
Families of SilkAir 1997 crash appeal judgement
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The five families who lost a suit against Singapore Airlines' unit SilkAir for the mysterious crash of a jetliner in Indonesia in 1997 have filed an appeal, a court official said on Saturday.
Senior Counsel Michael Khoo filed the appeal on behalf of the families in the High Court on Friday, the official said.
The three-judge Court of Appeal is expected to hear the case early next year.
The five families of the six victims -- from Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Britain -- lost their highly-publicised case when the courts exonerated thee regional carrier from liability last month.
Flight MI 185, piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore killing 104 people on December 19, 1997.
Most of the other affected families accepted compensation from SilkAir amounting to US$200,000 per victim which barred them from further legal action.
Larry Cheng, president of the SilkAir Families Association, said the group, which provides support for relatives of the victims, could not comment on the personal lawsuits, but was not surprised the five families had filed an appeal.
"Personally, I think every family has their way of finding out the truth and going through the Singapore courts is one of them," he told Reuters.
In October, the plaintiffs' lawyer Khoo had painted a picture of an aircraft that was deliberately put into a nosedive.
Air traffic controllers did not receive a distress call from the plane, which was cruising in clear weather.
Investigators found that the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had stopped minutes before the Boeing 737-300 went down -- prompting rumours of pilot suicide.
Lawyers for SilkAir had said that the plaintiffs had not been able to prove the pilot or co-pilot intended to commit suicide or had been reckless with the plane.
The judge subsequently ruled that the plaintiffs' legal action rested on circumstantial evidence.
About 50 families have filed lawsuits against aircraft maker Boeing Co in various U.S. states but these are only expected to begin early next year.
Families of SilkAir 1997 crash appeal judgement
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The five families who lost a suit against Singapore Airlines' unit SilkAir for the mysterious crash of a jetliner in Indonesia in 1997 have filed an appeal, a court official said on Saturday.
Senior Counsel Michael Khoo filed the appeal on behalf of the families in the High Court on Friday, the official said.
The three-judge Court of Appeal is expected to hear the case early next year.
The five families of the six victims -- from Singapore, Malaysia, the United States and Britain -- lost their highly-publicised case when the courts exonerated thee regional carrier from liability last month.
Flight MI 185, piloted by Captain Tsu Way Ming, plunged into the Musi River in Sumatra during a routine flight from Jakarta to Singapore killing 104 people on December 19, 1997.
Most of the other affected families accepted compensation from SilkAir amounting to US$200,000 per victim which barred them from further legal action.
Larry Cheng, president of the SilkAir Families Association, said the group, which provides support for relatives of the victims, could not comment on the personal lawsuits, but was not surprised the five families had filed an appeal.
"Personally, I think every family has their way of finding out the truth and going through the Singapore courts is one of them," he told Reuters.
In October, the plaintiffs' lawyer Khoo had painted a picture of an aircraft that was deliberately put into a nosedive.
Air traffic controllers did not receive a distress call from the plane, which was cruising in clear weather.
Investigators found that the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder had stopped minutes before the Boeing 737-300 went down -- prompting rumours of pilot suicide.
Lawyers for SilkAir had said that the plaintiffs had not been able to prove the pilot or co-pilot intended to commit suicide or had been reckless with the plane.
The judge subsequently ruled that the plaintiffs' legal action rested on circumstantial evidence.
About 50 families have filed lawsuits against aircraft maker Boeing Co in various U.S. states but these are only expected to begin early next year.