A Mexican federal judge has ruled that the airline Global Air must compensate the families of four crew members who perished in the Boeing 737-200 crash in Havana on May 18, 2018. The disastrous event marked the deadliest air tragedy in Cuba in three decades, and the compensation amounts to 124.2 million Mexican pesos, roughly $7.1 million.
The judgment, issued by Judge Thaybelli Ivette Sánchez Rojas of the Fourteenth District Civil Court in Mexico City, mandates restitution for the families of Mexican crew members: flight attendants María Daniela Ríos Rodríguez, Abigail Hernández García, and Guadalupe Beatriz Limón García, along with maintenance technician Marco Antonio López Pérez.
Nearly eight years after the catastrophe, this ruling marks the first definitive civil compensation order known in this case, although it addresses only four of the 113 passengers on board.
Background of the Tragic Flight
The DMJ-0972 flight of Cubana de Aviación—operated by Global Air under a leasing agreement—crashed shortly after taking off from José Martí International Airport en route to Holguín. The crash site was a farming area in the Santiago de Las Vegas municipality, approximately a kilometer from the airport.
Out of the 113 individuals aboard, 112 lost their lives. Three Cuban women initially survived, although two succumbed shortly after. The sole definitive survivor was 19-year-old Mailén Díaz Almaguer.
Legal and Operational Challenges
The judicial proceedings against Global Air were fraught with delays and difficulties. Since the 2018 incident, the company refused to compensate the families, blaming their own pilots for the crash. In a July 2018 statement, they claimed the aircraft took off at "an excessively steep angle," resulting in "loss of lift."
In October 2018, Mexico's Directorate General of Civil Aviation fined Global Air 1.7 million pesos due to administrative and maintenance deficiencies identified post-crash. The airline contested these fines in court.
Findings and Repercussions
The final report by the Cuban Institute of Civil Aeronautics, released in September 2019 with input from Cuban, Mexican, American, and European experts, concluded that the crash was likely caused by a series of human errors by the crew, including miscalculations of weight and balance, which led to a loss of control during takeoff. The report also criticized the airline's poor operational standards.
Families of the victims reported that Global Air's representative, Manuel Rodríguez Campos, refused to compensate them. The airline had previously offered payments between 2,000 and 5,000 pesos to families of passengers to cover "immediate economic needs."
The ruling comes at a particularly challenging time for Global Air, as the company faces bankruptcy proceedings following a failed settlement with creditors in 2024, raising substantial concerns about the feasibility of the families receiving the compensation ordered by the court.
Legal Implications and Compensation Challenges
What was the main reason for the crash of Global Air's Boeing 737-200 in 2018?
The crash was primarily attributed to a series of human errors by the crew, which included inaccurate calculations of the aircraft's weight and balance, leading to a loss of control during takeoff.
How has Global Air responded to the compensation demands from victims' families?
Global Air has consistently denied compensation to the families, blaming pilot error for the crash. They have previously offered minimal financial support to address immediate economic needs of the families.
What are the current financial challenges facing Global Air?
Global Air is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings after a failed settlement with creditors, casting doubt on their ability to fulfill the court-ordered compensation to the victims' families.