Mexican Judge Rules Airline Liable for 2018 Cuba Plane Crash
A Mexican judge has ruled in favor of plaintiffs in a lawsuit concerning the 2018 crash of a Boeing 737 in Havana, Cuba, which killed 112 people. The court determined that the aircraft, operated by Mexican charter airline Aerolíneas Damojh under lease to Cubana de Aviación, suffered from severe maintenance failures and should never have been airborne. An independent expert described the disaster as an institutional accident caused by negligence, noting that pilots were unable to prevent the low-altitude crash. The judge ordered Damojh to pay $1.5 million in damages to each of the four Mexican crew members' families who filed the initial suit. The airline, which failed to appear at trial, was tried in absentia, while its insurer was cleared of financial penalties. Although Cuban authorities previously attributed the crash to crew error, this ruling validates claims of long-term maintenance neglect. Lawyers for the victims described the decision as groundbreaking. A broader class-action civil suit and a criminal homicide complaint are ongoing, though the latter faces delays due to lack of cooperation from Cuban authorities.
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Mexican Judge Rules Airline Liable for 2018 Cuba Plane Crash
A Mexican judge has ruled in favor of plaintiffs in a lawsuit concerning the 2018 crash of a Boeing 737 in Havana, Cuba, which killed 112 people. The court determined that the aircraft, operated by Mexican charter airline Aerolíneas Damojh under lease to Cubana de Aviación, suffered from severe maintenance failures and should never have been airborne. An independent expert described the disaster as an institutional accident caused by negligence, noting that pilots were unable to prevent the low-altitude crash. The judge ordered Damojh to pay $1.5 million in damages to each of the four Mexican crew members' families who filed the initial suit. The airline, which failed to appear at trial, was tried in absentia, while its insurer was cleared of financial penalties. Although Cuban authorities previously attributed the crash to crew error, this ruling validates claims of long-term maintenance neglect. Lawyers for the victims described the decision as groundbreaking. A broader class-action civil suit and a criminal homicide complaint are ongoing, though the latter faces delays due to lack of cooperation from Cuban authorities.
AP News