Villagers can sue over air crash

Villagers can sue over air crash

Four crew members died in the plane crash

A group of Essex villagers who claim they suffered psychiatric injuries after a plane crash can sue the airline for damages.

The 13 people from Great Hallingbury, near the Hertfordshire town of Bishop's Stortford, claim they feared for their lives after a Boeing 747 crashed near their homes in December 1999.

Their test case against Korean Airlines hinged on whether the 1982 Civil Aviation Act allowed for the compensation of psychiatric injury.

Mr Justice Simon ruled at the High Court on Friday that the "material loss or damage" referred to in the Act was not limited to "physical loss or damage".

He has given them leave to go ahead with legal proceedings and awarded the claimants 80% of their costs.

Crew died

The airline, which has denied liability, was granted leave to appeal.

The judge did uphold the airline's claim villagers would have to show at the full hearing that they were sufficiently "proximate" to the crash scene.

All four crew members on the cargo jet, bound for Milan, were killed when the plane crashed shortly after take-off from Stansted Airport.

The hearing at the High Court heard the villagers had all believed they were in immediate danger of their lives when the plane crashed.

Counsel Philip Shepherd quoted from one claim by Leonard Glen, who had been in his house at the time.

He said he had thought his wife and daughter were going to die, and had been confronted with a ball of flames at his front door.