Didn't coerce kin of Guj crash victims: Air India

Air India

- HT Correspondents

Air India on Friday denied allegations that it coerced families of victims from the AI-171 crash into signing documents about their financial dependency on the deceased in an attempt to reduce compensation payouts.

The airline called the claims "unsubstantiated and inaccurate", saying it takes "such accusations incredibly seriously" because the "support and welfare of the families impacted by this tragic incident is our number one priority".

The controversy emerged following a report in The Guardian in which aviation lawyer Peter Neenan, who represents families of the crash victims, accused the airline of "ethically outrageous" behaviour towards bereaved relatives.

Neenan, a partner at UK law firm Stewarts that has represented families in major airline disasters including MH17 and MH370, claimed the airline's treatment of grief-stricken families could save it at least £100m by under-compensating families.

The report quoted Neenan as alleging that relatives arriving to identify their loved ones’ remains in the days after the June 12 crash were put in a “small, crowded room” in intense heat with other bereaved families and told to fill out documentation and a complicated questionnaire asking for important financial information.