Canadian court rules Ukrainian airline must pay crash victims’ families

TRENTON, Canada

Ontario’s highest court upheld a ruling Monday that said Ukrainian International Airlines must pay the family of victims who were killed when Flight PS752 was shot down in 2020.

The plane with 176 people onboard, including 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents, was downed by two Iranian missiles shortly after liftoff from Tehran. Iran maintained that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps thought it was under attack and fired on the plane.

Another Canadian court said last year that the airline was irresponsible in not completing a proper risk assessment of the plane taking off in or near a conflict zone.

But under the international Montreal Convention, the family could seek damages up to $180,000, and the amount could be raised depending on whether the airline was negligent.

The ruling means the airline cannot limit the financial amount paid to the victims’ families, while dismissing the airline’s appeal of the earlier court ruling.

Joe Fiorante, the lawyer for some of the families, welcomed the decision.

“The ruling of the Court of Appeal brings a small measure of justice for the families,” Fiorante said in a statement that was published by The Canadian Press.

But the families are seeking compensation from Iran, where officials admitted the plane was shot down by mistake.

Five years after the crash, Global Affairs Canada said Iran has yet to admit to full legal responsibility for the disaster.

There are proceedings against Iran under international law, but Canada said it will be years before a settlement is reached.

Citizens from Sweden, Ukraine and the UK, Germany, Afghanistan and Iran also died in the crash.