World Discusses in Brazil Rights of Flight Accident Victims

Foreign experts are gathered at the headquarters of the American Chamber of Commerce in São Paulo, Brazil, to discuss changes in the indemnity rules for international flight accident victims, as determined in the Montreal Convention.

Brazil signed the Convention in 1999 but has not ratified it yet. Final approval depends upon a bill that is up for passage before the Chamber of Deputies. 64 countries, including the United States and Canada, have already given their full adherence.


According to the Brazilian General Aviation Association (ABAG), which is sponsoring the event, this is the first time that the Civil Aviation Summit has ever been held outside Montreal.


One of the coordinators, Brigadier General Renato Costa, ex-secretary general of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), contends that this convention represents an important mechanism for the protection of passengers and family members of commercial aviation accident victims.


He argues that the previous (Warsaw) treaty “didn’t resolve people’s problems, while this new one sets two levels of compensation.”


According to Costa, the proposed changes compensate family members for the financial difficulties caused by the death of accident victims. In his view, Brazilian ratification is important for the new rules to apply to Brazilian passengers as well.


The Montreal Convention stipulates that, in cases of death, airlines must pay an amount up to the equivalent of around US$ 135 thousand within no more than a week. This amount was previously limited to US$ 8,300.


This payment does not exclude the second phase, which constitutes the judicial proceedings to determine the damages caused to the victims, observes Adalberto Feliciano, executive director of the ABAG.


Feliciano is in favor of ratification, because he believes that the changes can be extended to domestic operations.


Translation: David Silberstein


Agência Brasil

Tags:

You May Also Like

Brazilian Police Have No Rest: They Bust International Importing Gang

The Brazilian authorities are calling it the "biggest scheme of foreign trade fraud ever ...

2022. Child Labor in Brazil Might Be History by Then.

A considerable reduction in child labor is expected to occur in Brazil by 2015, ...

A Brazilian Study Shows that Half of the Amazon Could Be Gone in 5 Decades

In 50 years the Amazon region ("Amazônia") may be reduced to half its present ...

Take Your Peek

Among those exposed by the indiscreet CD-ROM is president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. No one ...

Brazil Expects Rich Nations Will Keep Their Promises to Haiti

Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, affirmed that “the problems faced by Haiti” ...

Expect 14% More Soy from Brazil

Brazil’s National Food Supply Company (Conab) estimates a production of 123.4 million tons of ...

Brazil Launches Military Mission with War Plane and Navy Ships to Rescue Penguins

Brazil is staging a military operation involving a Hercules transport plane and Navy ships ...

Alchemy, a Brazilian Jewel Maker with International Ambitions

Alchemy, jewel and semi jewel manufacturer, based in the Brazilian city of Limeira, in ...

A Brazilian in Berkeley Creates Painless Hypodermic Needle

It wasn’t Brazilian Márcio Von Muhlen’s choice to come to the United States initially, but ...

Without Justice’s Support Brazil Asks Foreign Help to Punish Dictatorship’s Crime

The president of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said it was "worthwhile" to ...