In a process for additional compensation for pain and suffering after the Germanwings-The crash more than six years ago, the bereaved suffered a defeat. The judges at the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Hamm rejected the appeal of several relatives on Tuesday, which was from the Germanwings-Mother Lufthansa had demanded additional compensation for pain and suffering in the amount of 30,000 euros.
The relatives’ lawyer had argued that the flight doctors should have recognized the co-pilot’s mental illness and thus prevented the disaster. Since the flight doctors are formally employed by Lufthansa, the lawsuit was directed against them Airline. Lufthansa was the parent company of Germanwings.
OLG follows first instance
The OLG Hamm, like the Essen Regional Court in the first instance, did not follow this. The doctors would conduct the examination for the competent authority. Therefore, the relatives would have to sue the Federal Aviation Office. However, it has not yet been proven that the doctors have any joint responsibility at all.
In an initial reaction, the relatives did not want to accept the verdict. You now intend to sue the Federal Republic of Germany. Such a claim has not yet expired, said her lawyer Elmar Giemulla after the hearing on Tuesday evening in Hamm.
Further proceedings pending in Frankfurt
80 other relatives who had sued Lufthansa for pain and suffering in Frankfurt had waited for the decision of the Higher Regional Court. How they will react to the appointment decision from Hamm is not yet clear. But they shouldn’t have much chance of success either.
Germanwings flight 9525 crashed on the way from Barcelona to Düsseldorf in March 2015. The co-pilot at the time had apparently deliberately steered the machine into the rock face. He tore 149 other people to their deaths, including a school group from Haltern am See.