Is it true that if a plane crash is caused by pilot error, then the airline’s insurer has to pay up, but if the crash is caused by mechanical malfunction, then the manufacturer or its insurer has to pay?
Then if a plane vanishes like MH370 and is never ever found, could the insurance companies drag their feet indefinitely by pointing fingers: “Well, it was never **proven **that it was pilot error,” “Well, it was never **proven **that it was mechanical failure?”
Just in the guess stage from other types of insurance…
I don’t think you’ll get one answer since we’re talking about an international market for policies. A quick search didn’t show me a specific international agreement as to a minimum legal requirement. Internationally it would not surprise me if there were difference requirements and restrictions on possible policies issued. What a given carrier then chooses as a policy within their legal constraints is yet another issue.
It will be interesting to see if someone has information about “one” answer.
I think there may be some misunderstanding about what insurance does.
If you are injured by some party, the fact that they have or do not have insurance does not limit your rights to recover from that party for the injury. The airline’s insurance carrier has no right to say to you “You can’t sue the airline for your injuries! Those are covered by the manufacturer’s insurance policy!” The insurance company can’t order you not to sue their client or to sue somebody else instead. The insurance company’s function is to cover their client once the client becomes liable for a covered loss.
No matter what caused the accident, there are going to be lawsuits filed against everyone involved. No insurance company can tell a court that they can’t enter a judgement against their clients or that someone else must pay for their client’s negligence. If either the manufacturer or the airline is found liable for the damages. they better hope they either have an insurance policy that covers them or pockets deep enough to pay the judgements. If they don’t, they will probably be driven into bankruptcy by the people who won the judgements against them.
That being said, there are international treaties that limit the amount you can collect from airlines for damages suffered during international travel. What you can recover will be limited.
This being a summary of the main such treaty: Montreal Convention - Wikipedia
For domestic flights there’s the Contract of Carriage.
But then (IANAL), a lawsuit is “you injured me” (or “I am the heir of someone you injured”). As the accuser, plaintiff, it is up to you to prove that the defendants caused the injury. However… it’s on the “preponderance of evidence” not “beyond reasonable doubt” for a civil suit. So most likely the relatives of the passengers will sue the airline, the manufacturer, and anyone else with pockets. They will be sued together and the judge/jury will decide who is to blame and in what amount. After all, they may conclude it was a combination of factors.
So what you’re really asking is “what will the court decide?” That’s a very good question. Since the answer is far from obvious, there’s plenty of incentive to settle out of court beforehand.
Since the parties involved have no idea what will happen either, they could lose big time if they hold out for a court vindication.