Nepal court reportedly gives ‘compensation order’ to US‑Bangla Airlines over Kathmandu crash

The airline claims it has not yet received any official copy of the verdict that has been reported by The Kathmandu Post

A court in Nepal has reportedly ordered US-Bangla Airlines to compensate the families of victims of the 2018 Kathmandu plane crash, according to The Kathmandu Post.

The airline, however, says it has not received any official documents related to the verdict.

On Mar 12, 2018, a US-Bangla Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 aircraft crashed while landing at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. Of the 71 people on board, 51 died.

The Kathmandu Post reported that the compensation ruling came on Sunday, nearly seven years after the case began.

Citing the court decision, the newspaper said: “In a settlement excluding the $20,000 insurance payout per family, the court has ordered the airline to pay $2.74 million in total, or Rs 378.60 million, to the 17 families affected by the tragedy.”

The Bangladeshi airline, however, says it has yet to confirm whether such a ruling has taken place in any Nepali court.

In a statement on Saturday, US-Bangla said: “Our legal team is reviewing the matter seriously. If such a ruling has been made, it will be analysed properly and relevant parties, including the media, will be informed in due course.”

Earlier, US-Bangla spokesperson Kamrul Islam said in a media statement: “No court in Nepal has recently issued any judgement against US-Bangla Airlines.

“The report in The Kathmandu Post is entirely false and fabricated.”

The airline also urged international media outlets to refrain from circulating such reports without official confirmation or access to the full ruling.

According to The Kathmandu Post, this is the first time in Nepal’s history that a court has awarded such a large compensation package to families of aviation crash victims.

It said no airline had previously been held liable in this way.

The report said the ruling came from Kathmandu District Court, and US-Bangla Airlines now has the right to appeal to the High Court or the Supreme Court.

Citing court official Deepak Kumar Shrestha, the report said it will take time to receive the full written copy of the verdict.

The case was heard by Judge Diwakar Bhatta and was filed on behalf of the families of 16 dead passengers and one survivor, it added.

The aircraft had taken off from Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport and crashed during its approach to Kathmandu.

The Canadian-built 76-seater Bombardier aircraft caught fire after impact, killing 51 passengers on board.

The dead included 22 Nepali nationals, 28 Bangladeshis and one Chinese citizen.