'If Ratan Tata Was Alive': US Lawyer Slams Air India Over Delay In Ahmedabad Plane Crash Aid
US Attorney highlighted the late Ratan Tata's legacy of compassion, suggesting his presence could have prevented such delays in compensation faced by the grieving families.
Ratan Tata's legacy of compassion,Noted US Attorney, Mike Andrews, representing over 65 families affected by the tragic Ahmedabad plane crash, slammed Air India for delay in compensation for the victims' families. He noted that if former Chairperson of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, had been alive such 'bureaucratic process" would not have existed.
Andrews spoke to ANI on Sunday and highlighted that Ratan Tata's work ethics and humbleness could have prevented such obstacles faced by the grieving families.
'Even in the US, we know who Ratan Tata was. We know a little bit in the US about his work ethic and his focus on being humble and taking care of his employees and so we know that if he were here today, we don't believe employees and victims and people who were on the aeroplane and on the ground would be subjected to a bureaucratic process in which they're delayed payment," he said.
US lawyer further cited case of one of the families where a bedridden elderly woman, dependent on her son who was killed in the crash, is waiting for the compensation to meet her medical needs.
'We met with one family, the elderly mother is bedridden, and she was depending upon her son to provide income to pay for her health care. He is now deceased. They have not received payment. What are they supposed to do? They are now left at the mercy of the world in determining how she is supposed to go on when the person who was helping provide for her was killed through no fault of his own," Andrews told ANI.
Over 65 families filed a petition in the US Federal Court against Air India and Boeing, the aircraft manufacturer, through a United States-based law firm Beasley Allen. Mike Andrews, the aviation attorney of Beasley Allen, took up the case and visited the crash site in the Meghaninagar area of Ahmedabad.
On July 26, Air India released Rs 25 lakh in interim compensation payments to the families of 147 of the 229 passengers who lost their lives in the crash and 19 others who lost their lives on the ground.
On June 12, Air India flight AI171, a Boeing 787-8 aircraft, crashed shortly after it took off from Ahmedabad's Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, killing 260 people, including 229 passengers, 12 crew members, and 19 people on the ground.
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