Dana Crash: 14 Families Compensated

Simon Ateba & Funsho Balogun/Lagos

Seven months after the Dana plane crash, only 14 families of the victims have been fully compensated, Nigerian authorities said on Friday.

The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, said at a press conference in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, that out of the 163 people killed in the crash, 85 families have received initial payment of $30,000 compensation while only 14 families have been paid $100,000 full compensation.

The authorities said while 131 families have so far submitted documents for payment of compensation, 12 families are yet to submit any documentation and two families have not completed full documentation.

NCAA Director General, Dr. Harold Demuren, who issued the statement read by Dr. Teressa Bassey, NCAA Director of Aeromedical, said 53 families have gone to court for various reasons.

Among those who went to court, Demuren said, are the families of 23 victims who had earlier collected initial payment of $30,000.

“Documentation of 24 victims is awaiting authentication by the insurers while Letters of Administration (LOA) for the families of 48 victims are still being awaited,” Demuren said.

He said the families that have received initial payment are required to collect Letters of Administration to be paid the remaining $70,000.

A Dana plane crashed in Lagos on 3 June 2012 with 153 people on board made up of 119 families. Ten people were also killed on the ground when the plane, an MD83 struck building in a densely populated area in Lagos.

According the 1999 Montreal Convention which was domesticated in Nigeria on 14 February 2006, families must be paid 113,100 Special Drawing Rights (SDR) for each victim.

The SDR is a mix of currency values established by the International Monetary Fund, approximately $138,000 per passenger in 2003 and around $175,800 as from December 2011.

But NCAA at the press conference said it is $100,000 compensation in Nigeria, according to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Act.

The authorities said families of ground victims will also be compensated but gave no date or amount of money they are entitled to.

According to the 1999 Montreal Convention, ground victims and their property are covered by the public liability insurance.

The coverage, often referred to as third party liability, covers aircraft owners for damage that their aircraft does to third party property, such as houses, cars, crops, airport facilities and other aircraft struck in a collision. It also covers ground victims.