Canadian court orders UIA to pay compensation to families of victims of PS752 crash in Iran
14 August 11:32
The Superior Court of Ontario (Canada) has upheld a ruling that obliges Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) to compensate the families of the passengers killed in the downing of Flight PS752 in Tehran on January 8, 2020. This is stated in the court’s decision, "Komersant Ukrainian" reports
The case of Flight PS752 addressed the key issues of compliance with the standard of care defined by ICAO 10084, which sets out requirements for flights over or near conflict zones.
The court concluded that UIA was negligent in failing to properly assess the risks of flying from Tehran at the time. The decision also deprives the company of the right to limit the amount of payments to the affected families.
“I dismiss the appeal, charging the appellant with court costs in favor of the defendants,” the document says.
Under international law, airlines are responsible for paying each passenger up to $180,000 in compensation for damages if proven guilty.
The amount of compensation may be increased if the airline has been negligent.
Last year, the Canadian court found the Ukrainian airline responsible for underestimating threats in the region. The new ruling cemented this verdict and paved the way for full compensation for the families of the victims of the tragedy.
The tragedy of flight PS752
The UIA Boeing 737 was shot down by the Iranian military shortly after takeoff from Tehran. There were 176 people on board – citizens of Ukraine, Iran, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Afghanistan. All of them died.
At first, Iran denied any involvement, but three days later it admitted that the plane was shot down by an air defense missile mistakenly identified as an enemy object. Official Tehran called it a “catastrophic mistake.”
In July 2020, France decrypted the black box data, which confirmed that the plane was in good condition and that the crash was caused by a missile.
Ukraine and a number of other countries have repeatedly criticized Iran for its non-transparent and incomplete investigation. In 2021, UN experts accused the Iranian authorities of violating international law and distorting the facts in the report on the tragedy.
