Kasaragod: Families of those killed and injured in the Air India Express Mangaluru air crash have alleged that Air India is refusing to provide compensation they are entitled to.

The case, currently pending before the Supreme Court, has been referred to a Special Lok Adalat scheduled to be held from August 21 to 23. Ahead of this, the Kasaragod District Legal Services Authority convened a pre-Lok Adalat conciliation sitting on June 10. While representatives of the Mangaluru Air Crash Victims Family Association attended the sitting, no representatives from Air India were present. So the association has decided to intensify its campaign for justice.

As part of the next phase of its efforts, the association has convened an emergency meeting of the victims' families at 10 am on June 27 at Rajadhani Auditorium, Poinachi, to discuss further legal and organisational steps, association president Narayanan Kalingom said. Senior lawyers from Arif Associates, who are handling the case, will also attend the meeting. Families have been asked to bring all available documents relating to the deceased, including proof of any compensation already received and salary certificates from the time of the accident.

Narayanan Kalingom alleged that Air India has completely stayed away from the settlement talks directed by the Supreme Court, and by failing even to send representatives for the discussions, has shown disrespect both to the judiciary and to the victims' families. He said the association would strongly protest what it considers the airline's continued negligence and denial of justice.

The tragedy occurred in the early hours of May 22, 2010, when an Air India Express flight from Dubai, carrying 166 people, overshot the tabletop runway at Mangaluru's Bajpe Airport during landing and plunged into a gorge. The crash, which occurred at around 6.15 a.m., claimed the lives of 158 people, including 152 passengers and six crew members. Eight people survived the crash.

Most of the Malayalis who lost their lives in the disaster were from Kasaragod. A petition initially filed before the High Court resulted in a favourable judgment on July 20, 2011, which was also accepted by the then Civil Aviation Minister. However, the verdict was later stayed by a Division Bench, preventing the victims' families from receiving the compensation they were entitled to. It was this development that eventually led them to approach the Supreme Court.