Asiana crash: Same accident,different relief

US victims find it easier to claim compensation than those from other countries due to laws

The potential compensation payouts for people aboard Asiana Airlines Flight 214 will probably be very different for Americans and passengers from other countries,even if they were seated side by side as the South Korean jetliner crash-landed.

An international treaty governs compensation to passengers harmed by international air travel. The pact is likely to close US courts to many foreigners and force them to pursue their claims in Asia and elsewhere,where lawsuits are rarer,harder to win and offer smaller payouts.

Some passengers have already contacted lawyers.

If you are a US citizen,there will be no problem getting into US courts. The other people are going to have a fight on their hands, said California attorney Frank Pitre,who represents two Americans aboard the plane.

The flight that broke apart July 6 at the San Francisco airport was carrying 141 Chinese,77 South Koreans,64 Americans,three Canadians,three Indians,one Japanese,one Vietnamese and one person from France when it approached the runway too low and too slow. The Boeing 777 hit a seawall before skidding across the tarmac and catching fire.

Three teenage girls from China were killed and 182 people injured,most not seriously.

The dozens who were seriously injured,especially the few who were paralyzed,can expect to win multimillion-dollar legal settlements,as long as their claims are filed in US courts,legal experts said.

California attorney Mike Danko,who is consulting with several lawyers from Asia about the disaster,said any passenger who was left a quadriplegic can expect settlements close to $10 million if the case is filed in the United States. Deaths of children,meanwhile,may fetch around $5 million to $10 million depending on the circumstances in US courts.

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In other countries,Danko explained,the same claims could be worth far less.

Broken bones in plane accidents usually mean $1 million settlements in the Unites States and in the low five-figure range overseas,Danko said. In 2011,the Federal Aviation Administration put the value of a human life at $6 million. But again,Danko said,that estimate applies only in US courts. Foreign courts can be expected to pay far smaller settlements.

In all,the South Korean government agency that regulates that countrys insurance industry expects Asianas insurers to pay out $175.5 million total $131 million to replace the plane and another $44.5 million to passengers and the city of San Francisco for damage to the airport. Suh Chang-suk,an official at Financial Supervisory Service,declined to discuss how the watchdog agency calculated its estimate.