Kin of 1998 crash victims sue Airbus

The influential Wichaidit family yesterday lodged a civil lawsuit demanding nearly Bt100 million from European aircraft maker Airbus as compensation for the deaths of a family member and his wife in a plane crash near Surat Thani airport in December 1998.

The lawsuit claims that the Airbus A310-240 - operated by Thai Airways (THAI) - crashed because of "various technical errors" which resulted from the manufacturer "assembling the aircraft unwisely and carelessly".

The lawsuit alleges that France-based Airbus Societe par Action Simplifee failed to use its knowledge and expertise to the level it should have during assembly of a number of pieces of technical equipment that malfunctioned in certain flight manoeuvres experienced by the HS-TIA - THAI's designated code for the A310-240 model - before it crashed.

The aircraft crashed during heavy rain on the night of December 11 nine years ago while circling above the Surat Thani airport awaiting clearance to land. The crash killed 101 people, and injured 45, 35 of them seriously.

The lawsuit was lodged by three relatives of Thawat Wichai-dit, formerly secretary-general to then prime minister Chuan Leekpai and Provincial Water-works Authority governor, and his wife Waraphorn. The couple's oldest and youngest children and Thawat's father are first, second and third plaintiffs, respectively.

The damages demanded, totalling Bt99.4 million, is divided into three categories of losses - Bt32.8 million for the deaths, Bt26.6 million for lost parental support, and Bt40 million for mental anguish.

Rujira Bunnag, a lawyer for the three plaintiffs, said he had collected all evidence needed, including audio records of the pilots, information retrieved from the plane's black box, and detailed specifications of the Airbus A310-240 model.

The lawyer said that as a technology enthusiast he happened to be able to read the black box information and had learned from the evidence he had that all the wrong manoeuvres leading to the crash resulted from malfunctions in the aircraft's avionics.

Rujira said that after the crash, Airbus improved a manoeuvre-correcting software and finished adding it onto all aircraft in the entire THAI Airbus fleet in 2002, apart from giving special training to get THAI pilots used to controlling the Airbus aircraft in one crucial manoeuvre, called Nose High Attitude, which was the same manoeuvre experienced by the A310-240 before it crashed.

Kesinee Taengkiew,

Mayuree     Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation