Court awards Rs5.4bn compensation to Airblue crash victims’ families

ISLAMABAD: The Court of the Additional District Judge-III (West), Islamabad, headed by Dr. Rasool Bukhsh Mirjat, on Saturday awarded a historic compensation amounting to Rs 5,415.084 million to the families of eight victims of the 2010 Airblue plane crash.

The court dismissed an appeal filed by Airblue, upholding the airline’s liability in the case. It also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 million on the airline for delaying the proceedings.

Airblue Flight 202, a domestic passenger service from Karachi to Islamabad, crashed on July 28, 2010, while attempting to land at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto International Airport. The aircraft, an Airbus A321-231 (registration AP-BJB), struck the Margalla Hills during its final approach in adverse weather conditions. All 152 people on board — 146 passengers and six crew members — were killed, making it the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan’s history.

According to official investigations conducted by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the crash was classified as a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). The inquiry cited pilot error, including descent below the prescribed safe altitude and deviation from standard operating procedures during a circling approach in poor visibility. Investigators also pointed to poor cockpit resource management and challenging weather conditions marked by rain and low clouds.

Subsequent court observations and reports also noted that errors by air traffic control contributed to the unsafe conditions leading up to the crash.

The ruling marks a significant development in the long-running legal battle for compensation, which has spanned more than a decade. Families of the victims have repeatedly called for accountability and timely relief, saying prolonged litigation compounded their suffering.

Legal experts say the judgment could set an important precedent for aviation liability and compensation cases in Pakistan.

Most of the families were forced by Airblue to sign the release document and take the First Tier Liability as their final compensation. But few families stuck to the principal of fair compensation and led the court fight with Airblue, which now ended in giving the fair compensation to the irreplaceable loss to their lives.