Relatives of victims of Germanwings crash call for clearer apology

The parents of the 18 schoolchildren who were killed, along with their teachers, in the Germanwings crash back on March 24th have issued a letter through their solicitors, Elmar Giemulla, requesting an apology from Germanwings over the death of their children. They have made it clear they all felt their children might still be alive today had the airline paid closer attention to the mental condition of the pilot, Andreas Lubitz, who deliberately crashed the plane.
The letter, which was charged with emotion, was addressed to the CEO of Lufthansa, Germanwings’ parent group, Carsten Spohr. They made it clear they were disappointed he had not spoken to them personally nor had issued an apology to them. In the letter they stated “You were there for your customers, but not for us,” making it clear they wanted an apology because Lufthansa’s doctors had not paid close attention to Lubitz’s prior period of depression and for the airline not having the two-person cockpit rule in force before the tragedy. “With more attention paid to these risks our children would perhaps still be alive,” they made clear.
A spokesman for Lufthansa said that Spohr had spoken to many family members and that he had not only fully accepted responsibility, but had also apologized for the suffering of the families. Spohr confirmed that signed letters of condolence had been sent out. However the publication of the letter comes after the families’ lawyers, Elmar Giemulla, rejected on their behalf an offer of €25,000 for pain and suffering incurred, indicating that a six-figure sum would be more appropriate.
German law regarding compensation for pain and suffering is the antithesis of that in the USA, so large payouts are not made and Ronald Schmid, a German professor of aviation law, stated they were among the worst in Western Europe. “The system is out of date and needs changing,” he made clear. However Germanwings have revealed that this is only a small part of the overall claims that would be made, and they are waiting for lawyers to calculate the appropriate sums for compensation that will take into account material damages such as lost earnings. As a consequence the sums offered will be appreciably greater than the current sums.
Lufthansa has already settled EUR€50,000 for immediate financial assistance, on top of which relatives may each claim EUR€10,000 for their own suffering, in addition to the EUR€25,000 emotional damages offered to the victims.