Bolivian airline agrees on compensation plan for Chapecoense plane crash

Bolivian airline LaMia said Thursday that it will compensate each victim with 165,000 U.S. dollars for the crash in Colombia that killed 71 people, including nearly all of the Brazilian football team Chapecoense.

LaMia lawyer Nestor Higa said the company has agreed on this indemnity plan with the International Civil Aviation Organization.

LaMia has a number of insurance policies with the organization, including one worth 1.5 million dollars covering the crew members, and another worth 25 million dollars for passengers.

"LaMia has an insurance of 25 million U.S. dollars, enough for the payment of 165,000 U.S. dollars (each), but not in case of larger costs," explained Higa.

The fee of 25 million U.S. dollars is the minimum international standard for airplane accident compensation. However, if the accident is found to have been due to human error, this number can climb significantly, with compensation payment reaching to millions of dollars for each fatality.

According to Higa, LaMia partner Marco Antonio Rocha is in charge of the settlement with the families.

The lawyer denied that influence peddling had been involved in LaMia obtaining its operating license, and said that all legal and administrative norms had been met.

LaMia was created in September 2014 and obtained its charter flight license within a year.

LaMia Flight 2933 crashed on Nov. 28 just before landing in Medellin, Colombia, killing 71 out of the 77 people aboard.

Bolivia, Colombia and Brazil are investigating the causes of the crash, with suspicions growing that human error was involved in not supplying the craft with enough fuel.

source: Xinhua