daiseee

Wow, that's some compensation.

Millions of dollars in compensation, a result of an out-of-court settlement, was given to 144 travellers on the Qantas Airbus A330, which was enroute from Singapore to Perth in October 2008 when it dropped hundreds of feet as a result of a technological malfunction., reported PerthNow.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226233200740

Traveloguy

<rant>

400K because people were stupid enough not to wear their seat belts despite QF being one of the biggest nazis at trying to push pax to wear them? Come on!

Yes, I agree that this was a serious incident, but I doubt people so many were hurt that bad that they deserved 400K, especially in a country where Medicare would have picked up a fair part of the medical bill even if pax were treated privately. This does suggest that Australia truly has become the 51st state after all!

It's sad to see we are fast becoming a society where personal responsibility is nowhere to be seen.

</rant>

docbert

Was the seat-belt sign on at the time?

If not, you've got to assume that at least some of the people injured had good reasons for having their seat-belts off at the time (on their way to the toilets, for example).

Of course, I'm sure that some were simply the type that remove their seat belt the moment the seat-belt sign goes off, but it's basically impossible for the airline to know which were which.

Given this was an international flight, I'm presuming at least a small percentage of the passengers were non-Australians, and thus would not have been covered by Medicare.

I'm not saying I agree with $400k payouts, just that it's hard to comment without know the specifics of the individual cases.

og

But is was only "up to $400,000" and not $400,000 per passenger. Big difference. And being "out of court settlement", how do we know the full story - unless someone's phone has been tapped?

Traveloguy

Due to reciprocal agreements between various state funded healthcare programmes, Medicare will actually not just look after Australians but citizens from quite a few countries (e.g. UK, Sweden, etc.).

Based on stories from the flight, it seems many were without seat belts at the time of the incident.

chandi

Based on some experience with insurance claims the amount awarded (specially outside of a court award) normally depends on the level of injury caused. You can find a good guide to what this may be on many travel insurance policies along the lines of Loss of (or function of) one arm $X, Loss of both arms $Y, Partial Loss of sight $Z and so on. There is even an international standard used by insurance companies to classify such injuries. Therefore you are unlikely to have received $400k if you had a chipped tooth or had wine spilled on you. But I would assume of some one lost substantial mobility, loss or reduction on the use of a limb or some other substantial trauma they could have received $400k.

If you live in most states of Australia you would have had a very similar assessment for a road traffic injury too.

I would not hazard a guess on how much compensation you would think was justified if you lost partial or total use of a limb or 12-24 months in treatment for a serious injury other than direct medical expenses.

Traveloguy

I am not aware of any limbs being lost in this incident so let's not completely go down the hysteria route. Again if you read the report into the incident, most pax who suffered minor or more serious injury were not wearing seat belts.

theassassin

Also, Medicare doesn't pay if you can claim compensation elsewhere, so there would be some hospital, ambulance, etc costs to be covered.

amaroo

Read a story on SMH quoting it was $100k.

Globaliser

As this was an international flight, how do the strict liability provisions work? Is there scope for reduction for contributory fault?

dcutcher

of inflight injuries involving seatbelts NOT being worn, I'm always curious to know--and never find out--how many pax WEARING seatbelts were thus NOT injured.

Or, for that matter, how many NOT wearing belts also were NOT injured.

But those figures don't make news though they might be of interest to the insurers, especially as it may relate to WHERE in the plane injuries did/did not occur...

Traveloguy

True, however I was quoting from the ATSB report and not the newspapers who I think most of us on this forum distrust to a certain extent. My main comment was a half hearted rant regarding the so called 400K payments.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

seat belts are advised to be worn in the event of unforeseen turbulence. while it would also have kept passengers restrained in this situation, it is not the primary idea that a seat belt is there to protect you against a fault in the software or equipment.

suing is vital to ensure there is real financial penalty to the manufacturers, and to make sure that they learn a lesson and don't do it again.

could you imagine if manufacturers simply said 'you got medical care, you should have had your seat belt on, therefore we don't owe you anything'?

that is a completely unacceptable outcome.

the reason why we sue doctors, lawyers, manufacturers and so on is that as well as getting compensation, it brings home a lesson and makes people accountable.

part of the reason that aircraft accidents are so well investigated is to protect manufacturers and airlines against massive lawsuits in the event of a similar event.

Blackadder1402

Yes people need to be held accountable, that also includes the passengers.

Traveloguy

+1