Court upholds Skyguide compensation

Skyguide did offer appropriate compensation to the families of the 71 victims of the 2002 air collision over Überlingen in Germany, the Swiss Federal Court has ruled.

Turning down a final appeal from 51 relatives of Russian victims, the judges in Lausanne concluded that the compensation amounts were neither too high nor too low and corresponded to what was paid out in comparable cases.

Four employees of the Swiss air traffic control company were found guilty in 2007 of negligent homicide over the crash.

The agency was responsible for the airspace on July 1, 2002 when a Bashkirian Airlines plane collided with a DHL cargo jet near the town of Überlingen. The two cargo pilots and everyone on the passenger plane, including a large group of Russian schoolchildren on a holiday trip to Spain, were killed.

After the accident Skyguide reached agreement with relatives of 40 of the 71 victims on compensation for their loss and suffering. Parents of deceased children received SFr30,000 ($34,087) to SFr36,000, siblings got SFr7,000 and grandparents were entitled to SFr5,000.