MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� A Mexican judge ruled that the plane involved in a suffered from severe maintenance failures and should never have flown, and ordered the owner to pay millions in damages to the families of the victims who sued.
According to court documents dated March 31 and seen Friday by The Associated Press, an independent expert determined the 2018 crash was an 鈥渋nstitutional accident鈥� caused by maintenance negligence. The expert鈥檚 report, which sided with the plaintiffs, described the pilots as a 鈥渇inal line of defense鈥� who were tragically unable to prevent the low-altitude crash.
Based on these findings, the judge ordered to pay $1.5 million in damages to each of the families of the four Mexican crew members who filed the initial lawsuit. The company failed to appear at trial and was tried in absentia. The aircraft鈥檚 insurer was also named in the lawsuit but was ultimately cleared of any financial penalties.
The went down in a field moments after departing Havana鈥檚 Jos茅 Mart铆 International Airport, marking one of Cuba鈥檚 deadliest aviation disasters in decades. Of the 113 people on board, only a Cuban woman survived. Most of the victims were Cubans.
A year after the accident, Cuba . In Mexico, authorities had already temporarily suspended Aerol铆neas Damojh, and opened an investigation. When contacted by the AP about the state of the investigation, Mexico鈥檚 Secretariat of Communications and Transportation did not respond.
Operating as Global Air, Damojh provided the Boeing 737 and the Mexican crew to the state carrier Cubana de Aviaci贸n through a lease agreement. This arrangement placed the aircraft in service despite a documented history of problems surrounding the company鈥檚 operations prior to the crash.
Samuel Gonz谩lez, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, described the decision as a hard-won and 鈥済roundbreaking ruling for Mexico.鈥� He said the court鈥檚 findings validate what the company鈥檚 own head of maintenance acknowledged on day one in Havana when he admitted to family members that the plane should never have been in the air.
鈥淭hat plane flew over our heads for 10 years without maintenance,鈥� Gonz谩lez said. 鈥淚t crashed in Cuba, but it could have happened anywhere.鈥�
The AP was not immediately able to contact the airline representatives.
Gonz谩lez noted that the airline appears to be filing for bankruptcy, adding, 鈥淚f it鈥檚 a fraudulent bankruptcy, we will press charges for that as well.鈥�
Beyond this initial lawsuit, Gonz谩lez noted that a class-action civil suit representing all victims is underway. Simultaneously, a criminal complaint for homicide has been filed with Mexico’s Office of the Attorney General against the company and any other responsible parties.
According to Gonz谩lez, the criminal investigation has stalled because Cuban authorities have not provided requested information. The Attorney General鈥檚 Office did not immediately respond to the AP鈥檚 request for comment on the status of the case.
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