Asiana Flight 214 Crash: Personal Injury Claims Of 72 Passengers Settled By South Korean Carrier

By  Suman Varandani @suman09 s.varandani@ibtimes.com

Search and rescue officials surround an Asiana Airlines Boeing 777 plane after it crashed while landing at San Francisco International Airport in California on July 6, 2013. Reuters/Jed Jacobsohn

Asiana Airlines Inc has reached a settlement with 72 passengers aboard Asiana Flight 214, which crashed at San Francisco International Airport in 2013, a spokesman for the South Korean carrier said Wednesday. The Boeing 777 crashed on July 6, 2013, killing three Chinese passengers and injuring nearly 200 others.
The passengers had filed personal injury claims against the carrier, Boeing Co., and Air Cruisers Co., the New Jersey company that made the plane’s evacuation slides. However, the financial terms of the settlement were not made public, The Associated Press (AP) reported.
"This is the first positive step for these passengers to be able to get closure on a tragic, catastrophic crash and hopefully try to get their lives back together," plaintiffs' attorney
Frank Pitre said, according to AP. "We're pleased we've been able to get this first phase resolved."
Pitre also reportedly said that this was the first settlement in connection with the crash. Boeing spokesman Miles Kotay declined making any comments on the matter, while calls to lawyers for the carrier and Air Cruisers Co., were not returned, AP reported.
Asiana Flight 214, traveling from Seoul, was landing at the San Francisco airport when it slammed into a seawall at the end of a runway. The impact ripped away back of the plane, leaving several passengers injured. U.S. safety investigators reportedly blamed the pilots for making errors that caused the jet to crash.
However, the National Transportation Safety Board said that the complicated nature of Boeing 777's auto-throttle and auto flight director -- two of the plane's key systems for controlling flight -- contributed to the accident, AP reported. Last year, the agency said that Boeing should consider modifying flight controls on the 777 jetliner.