THE recent crash involving the ill-fated Dana Airplane in Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos where all the 153 passengers and crew members, including about 10 people on ground perished, has brought to the fore the rigorous process, which families of crash victims go through to get compensations from airline operators who most times try to circumvent the law with technicalities and dribble beneficiaries to no end.The Sosoliso aircraft McDonnell Douglas DC-9-32 (1) accident, which happened in December 10, 2005, is a suitable example. The accident occurred while approaching Port Harcourt in adverse weather - wind shear, rain and lightning. Unable to make out the unlit runway through the rain, the captain called for a go-around (missed approach) at an altitude of about 200 feet (approximately 120 feet above the ground). The call was made about 100 feet below the 'decision altitude'. The missed approach procedure was carried out incorrectly and the aircraft struck the ground approximately 70 meters left of the runway. It collided heavily with a concrete drainage culvert, disintegrated and caught fire. All the seven crew members and 101 of the 103 passengers died in the crash. The two surviving passengers were seriously injured. Payment of compensation to passengers almost seven years after the crash had been a Herculean task for the airline. Worst still, payment of compensations to families of crew members has remained a nightmare for their loved ones notwithstanding the position of the law as stipulated by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). ICAO mandates that each family of an air crash victim is entitled to USD $100,000 from the airline while a crew member is entitled to USD$150,000. In January 2009, Director General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr. Harold Demuren, said the families of the air crash victims would be compensated and that Sosoliso had already paid USD$2.3 million into an escrow account to compensate the families. Yet, the family of one of the Sosoliso workers who perished in the crash, Theresa Dike, is yet to be compensated. The counsel, Mr. Tony Odiadi, in this encounter narrates the family's experience and agony in trying to get Theresa's claims for his young son - Jeffery Alika-Dike from Sosoliso management.'We have been pursuing the claims on behalf of one of their employees who died in the crash - Theresa Dike. We did everything possible at that time and Sosoliso authorities pleaded with us to give them some level of understanding since she was, so to say, a family member and reassured us that the compensation would be paid. If you recall, the students that died in that crash took the entire attention of the whole crash. They pleaded that we better step back a bit because of the emotion that arose from the number of students that were involved in the crash and we did all of that. We also found out that their lawyers were very professional about it. We realised that they had serious challenges - that particular aircraft was not properly insured. And as at the time it happened, they were finding it very difficult to meet up with the claims. I think they had to reach an agreement to sell their assets. And in selling their assets, they were able to raise some money from which we were told that compensation would be paid. In fact, as at 2009, Demuren was on air, saying that they had raised about USD$2 million and above from the assets sold and that from there, they would begin to pay. But that did not happen. Instead, they started to pay in batches and we were always on their trail, trying to know what was happening. At the end of the day, they threw up something and said some people were not paid because of one reason or another. They said they would pay by the end of last year. Up till now, we have still not been paid.'On the implication of that action on the victim's family, Odiadi said: 'It has exposed this very little boy to a very serious economic challenge. He is supposed to be in school, but he has not been able to do so. His uncles and others are struggling to support him. He has finished his secondary school now and is supposed to be in the university. He has an uncle who is facilitating his admission somewhere outside the country and they are all depending on the compensation money to be able to realise that goal.'In such circumstances, what does the law say' Are there possibilities for legal action against any airline, which refuses or delays compensation'Odiadi has this to say: 'We wanted to take full blown legal action but their lawyers advised that we should settle out-of-court because the firm was practically being wounded up, that if we go into full blown legal action, we may find ourselves being delayed much more in the courts. We have since cooperated and Sosoliso has not reciprocated the cooperation we gave to them. What happened a few weeks ago was that they suddenly gave us an invitation that they wanted to see the family members. The representative of the family, Shedrach, sought to go with their lawyer but they declined, saying that they were not comfortable with their lawyer because he had written series of petitions to the NCAA, that such may scuttle their ambition of regaining their operational licence.He asked to come along with the direct beneficiary, but they said the young boy may find the environment too emotional, that he should come alone because they had something for him. So Shedrach, late Theresa's brother, went. When he got there, they said listen, we don't have anything here to give to you. You know we are about getting back our licence. When we get our licence back and begin to fly, we will raise money and give to you. Your sister was our employee, we loved her, we didn't quarrel, so let it be like that. So these have been the big challenges. And they don't have a fixed address. We keep pursuing them all over the place.'On regulatory deficiencies, he said: 'It is the error of regulation that gives opportunity for things like this to happen. If they had done a proper audit of each aircraft, they would have known the insurance cover for either the airline or the aircraft itself. They would have known that this particular aircraft does not have proper insurance cover and so should not carry passenger into the air because in the event of a crash, it means that those passengers are on their own. That is what happened in the case of Sosoliso crash. If the NCAA had enforced the insurance regulation, they would have found out that an aircraft, which insurance was not concluded was brought into Nigeria and that insurance process was not concluded before the aircraft started flying. So, these are the areas that the managers of the aviation sector need to look into if the sector must move forward. These disasters are happening too frequently. I flew the Dana aircraft that fell off the sky and narrowly missed the crash.'On the compensation, he said: 'The compensation is a pittance. The ICAO says any passenger must be paid a minimum of USD$100,000 equivalent. A crew member should be paid USD$150,000 equivalent while a pilot is to be paid USD$250,000 equivalent. But Nigerians try to shorten this amount. We have had situations that our passengers are under-insured and many are just taking a risk when they board an aircraft. Worst still, the little they agreed to pay, they are unable to pay. Sosoliso is not ready to go and take facility from the bank and pay those who are left.'Knowing that aviation is a delicate sector, what would be the reason for an operator to begin to fly an aircraft without proper insurance cover' Odiadi said, Sosoliso could not perfect the insurance process and decided to fly the aircraft just like that. Read him: 'They said that as at the time they were buying the aircraft, the sellers were in the process of insuring it and they had not completed it. So, Sosoliso took a lease of the aircraft, promising to conclude the insurance process. So when they got here, they ignored the process and started flying. Because they did not pay any premium, the offshore insurers were not ready to pay any money. They breached the insurance provisions and that would have fetched them the hard currency with which to meet their local financial obligations.'On the bid to get their licence back, Odiadi said Sosoliso almost concluded it but for the Dana plane crash that occurred and threw up issues of compliance to operational guidelines and rules. 'They almost got their licence. They were pushing for it and almost got it before the Dana crash that made the regulatory agencies to say, 'let us look deeply to see those who are worthy of a licence.' We heard that they were trying to get some aircraft on lease. At some point, we heard that they were trying to operate in Liberia. If you approach any of the airlines in the United Kingdom, they can allow you to partner with them by leasing two or three aircraft to you. Maybe, they were counting on that.'On the issue of compensation to the crew members, he said: 'Sosoliso told us that they had paid family members of the crew but did not pay two families in the last segment of the payment because some of the crew members put the names of their children in the next of kin form. They said they delayed the payment to our young boy because the mother said he would reach a particular age, which he has attained since. But all those are neither here nor there because they never told us all along. Immediately after the accident, they paid everybody N1 million each. They said the N1 million was not part of the compensation but to deal with the trauma first. But suddenly, they turned around and said that the money is part of it. The shocking thing is that Demuren said USD$2.3 million had been aggregated for the payment and up till now, nothing has been done. If they got that amount of money, why was it difficult to pay the 105 people who were involved' Or is it that somebody is not telling the public the truth
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