Air India crash | If Ratan Tata was alive...: US attorney says compensation delays to victims' families wouldn't happen

Mike Andrews, the lead US attorney representing the victims' families of the Air India crash in Ahmedabad, cited that the delay in compensation given to grieving families would not have happened if former Tata Group ChairpersonRatan Tata had been around. Highlighting Tata's ethics and compassion for people, he said what is now ‘subjected to a bureaucratic process’ would have never been a reason given in the first place.

"Even in the US, we know who Ratan Tata was. We know a little bit in the US about his work ethic and his focus on being humble and taking care of his employees and so we know that if he were here today, we don't believe employees and victims and people who were on the aeroplane and on the ground would be subjected to a bureaucratic process in which they're delayed payment," Andrews said while speaking to news agency ANI.

The 65 families affected by the tragic AI171 plane crash that occurred on June 12 in which the casualties mounted to 260. He added, “We met with one family, the elderly mother is bedridden, and she was depending upon her son to provide income to pay for her health care. He is now deceased. They have not received payment. What are they supposed to do? They are now left at the mercy of the world in determining how she is supposed to go on when the person who was helping provide for her was killed through no fault of his own.”

A sum of $28,522 (INR 25 lakh) was released by Air India as in interim compensation to 147 families out of the 229 passengers, who lost their lives in the tragic incident. At the time of the final payment, this amount will adjusted.