How safe are we in the open skies?

New Delhi, Sep 6: Indian air passengers and their families are at a disadvantage as the country has neither ratified the 1999 Montreal Convention nor amended the 1972 Carriage by Air Act, experts say.

At present, air-crash victims and families can claim only as much as is prescribed by the outdated 1972 Carriage by Air Act which reflects the archaic mandate of carrier liability under the 1929 Warsaw Convention.

''India has been tardy -- even deliberately negligent -- in amending its law to make it passenger friendly,'' said Mr Sanat Kaul, former representative of India to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO).

''Clearly, the present regime is unacceptable for a country with a booming aviation sector or one that boasts of globalisation.'' On May 4, a Kenyan Airways airliner crashed into dense forest while flying from Cameroon to Nairobi. Of the 114 persons on board who died, 15 were Indians.

Claimants lost the benefit of two-tier system of compensation that could have been payable to them under article 21 of Montreal 99. The first tier would have got them a payment of about Rs 70 lakh for death of a passenger, irrespective of airline fault.

Secondly, claimants cannot exercise the option under second tier to file a claim beyond the amount limit, if they prove that the crash was caused because of negligence or fault of the airline.

Claimants can neither receive advance payment from an airline payable both in case for death or injury, nor avail the obvious benefit of filing claims in Indian courts or courts in countries of their residence. ''More is the tragedy because Kenya is among 76 countries that have ratified Montreal 99 while India continues to dither, unable to act,'' said Mr Kaul who is now Chairman of the International Foundation for Aviation and Development's India chapter.

Mr Harry Dhaul, Director General of Aviation Watch consumer awareness group, said it is important and urgent for all stakeholders to understand the issue of legal rights and attendant compensation payments.

''Presently, there is no mechanism in place through which the injured passenger or next of kin of crash victims receive immediate counseling, guidance and legal assistance.'' Private international air law conventions make a carrier liable for damage sustained in the event of death or wounding of a passenger or for any other bodily injury suffered by a passenger, if the accident which caused the damage sustained took place on board an aircraft or in course of any operation of embarking or disembarking.

The airline is also liable for damage sustained in the event of destruction of or loss of or damage to any registered baggage or any goods, if the occurrence which caused the damage so sustained took place during carriage by air.

But the rights of a passenger remain hidden as India races from 300-odd airborne flights in the air at any given moment as compared to 6,000 to 7,000 in the United States. UNI