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Q: What is an airline required to do for passengers if one of its plane crashes?
A: International flights are governed by the Montreal Convention, an international air carrier treaty adopted in 1999 by the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency. If the airline is found at fault for an accident, the Montreal Convention stipulates that it is liable for up to 113,100 special "drawing rights" per passenger, a value established by the International Monetary Fund. The value changes regularly, and for now equals about $170,000 per passenger in the USA.
Over the past 90 years, there have been various limitations imposed under international laws and treaties on what victims can recover from airlines for accidents. At this point, there is no limitation on the recovery against an airline unless it can prove that it took all necessary precautions to avoid the accident. "They wanted to make it easier for innocent victims and passengers in a plane accident to recover for an accident," says John McClune, an aviation attorney at Katzman, Lampert & McClune in Troy, Mich. "They put the burden on the airline."
In other words, the passengers on Asiana's flight will be able to sue if they choose to.
"They will be entitled to fair and just compensation," says David Katzman, another aviation attorney at Katzman, Lampert & McClune.
x x x."
