Crash victims' families, Gulf Air reach out of court settlement

Gulf Air and the families of the Bahraini victims of the doomed GF072 flight three years ago have reached an out of court settlement, one of the relatives told Gulf News yesterday.

A lawsuit for compensation, due to be heard at a French court later this month, has therefore been withdrawn, Isa Ajlan, which is a member of an ad hoc committee representing the victims' families. The Gulf Air plane, an Oman registered Airbus A320-212, crashed on August 23, 2000 at sea about five kilometres north-east of Bahrain International Airport resulting in the death of the two pilots, six cabin crew and the 135 passengers.

The aircraft was on a regular flight from Cairo International Airport to Bah-rain. A report issued in July last year by Bahrain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said the failure of the captain, Bahraini Ihasn Shakeeb, and his crew to handle the critical last moments of the Gulf Air flight GF-072 was the most significant cause that led to the tragic crash.

Later that month, the victims' families won the right to sue the airliner and the French company, Airbus Industries, in the apex court in Toulouse, France.

A short joint statement released yesterday by the airline and the committee of the victims' families said payment of the agreed compensations has been made and "those Bahraini families who had commenced court proceeding in Toulouse have agreed to withdraw those proceedings." The amount of the compensation was not disclosed. It described the settlement as "amicable."

Ajlan confirmed receiving the payment but declined to say how much. "It is confidential. That is part of the agreement," he told Gulf News. However, the families have expressed their satisfaction, he said.

Earlier news reports said Gulf Air had offered the families a compensation of $125,000 for each adult victim and $80,000 for each minor victim, but the families rejected the offer as inadequate.

"We are really glad the whole thing is over," said Ajlan, adding that the families "thank the airline, the press and all those who supported them."