By Chung Ah-young
Eight Asiana Airlines flight attendants have filed damage suits against the company and Boeing in the U.S. district court over the carrier's crash landing in San Francisco in 2013.
According to the carrier, Thursday, one of the crew members, who sustained a fractured back due to the malfunction of an evacuation slide, filed a suit in the Northern District of California Federal Court in January last year.
The airline said that the crew members are seeking compensation for their mental and physical impairment resulting from the accident.
The plane, carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew, crash landed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013.
The flight attendant, whose name was withheld, sustained a serious back injury when two of the eight evacuation slides did not inflate properly. The aircraft was made by Boeing.
Following her lawsuit, five other attendants filed suits in December of the same year and two in June this year.
The eight were among 12 flight attendants on board. They have not returned to work since the accident, receiving medical treatment with the company paying expenses.
Among four others who have not filed suit, one quit while two have returned to work and another has taken leave.
Airline officials said they do not know why the employees filed the suits with the U.S. court and not a Korean one.
The Federal Court in California said it will deal with the flight attendants' lawsuits together with some 50-60 other lawsuits that have been filed by about 200 passengers of the flight.
As the Montreal Convention requires suits to be brought within two years of an aircraft accident, the passengers have rushed to file regardless of their ongoing
negotiations with Asiana over compensation.
Previously, 53 passengers ― 27 Koreans, 25 Chinese and one Indian living in Korea ― filed a class action against the carrier at the Seoul Central District Court in June, seeking compensation for injuries, mental distress and damage to property. They demanded that the airline pay 55 million won to 2.7 billion won each.
Asiana said it has made headway on negotiations with passengers over compensation. The company initially proposed some $10,000 in compensation to all surviving passengers.
Three teenagers from China were killed in the accident after the plane struck a seawall during an attempt to land. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded in 2014 that pilot error, along with the complexity of the automated flight management system, caused the crash.
Eight Asiana Airlines flight attendants have filed damage suits against the company and Boeing in the U.S. district court over the carrier's crash landing in San Francisco in 2013.
According to the carrier, Thursday, one of the crew members, who sustained a fractured back due to the malfunction of an evacuation slide, filed a suit in the Northern District of California Federal Court in January last year.
The airline said that the crew members are seeking compensation for their mental and physical impairment resulting from the accident.
The plane, carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew, crash landed at San Francisco International Airport on July 6, 2013.
The flight attendant, whose name was withheld, sustained a serious back injury when two of the eight evacuation slides did not inflate properly. The aircraft was made by Boeing.
Following her lawsuit, five other attendants filed suits in December of the same year and two in June this year.
The eight were among 12 flight attendants on board. They have not returned to work since the accident, receiving medical treatment with the company paying expenses.
Among four others who have not filed suit, one quit while two have returned to work and another has taken leave.
Airline officials said they do not know why the employees filed the suits with the U.S. court and not a Korean one.
The Federal Court in California said it will deal with the flight attendants' lawsuits together with some 50-60 other lawsuits that have been filed by about 200 passengers of the flight.
As the Montreal Convention requires suits to be brought within two years of an aircraft accident, the passengers have rushed to file regardless of their ongoing
negotiations with Asiana over compensation.
Previously, 53 passengers ― 27 Koreans, 25 Chinese and one Indian living in Korea ― filed a class action against the carrier at the Seoul Central District Court in June, seeking compensation for injuries, mental distress and damage to property. They demanded that the airline pay 55 million won to 2.7 billion won each.
Asiana said it has made headway on negotiations with passengers over compensation. The company initially proposed some $10,000 in compensation to all surviving passengers.
Three teenagers from China were killed in the accident after the plane struck a seawall during an attempt to land. The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board concluded in 2014 that pilot error, along with the complexity of the automated flight management system, caused the crash.
