Latam Airlines flight plunge: Aviation lawyer says airline must pay for long-term losses as authorities study plane’s black box

A leading aviation lawyer says passengers onboard a horror Latam Airways flight that plunged mid-trip from Sydney to Auckland should receive compensation for any ongoing medical treatment required.

Flight LA800, on which passengers and crew were thrown into the plane’s ceiling and others were left covered in blood, has been described as “eerily similar” to an incident on a Qantas flight more than 15 years ago.

Leading aviation lawyer Peter Carter, who acted for passengers aboard flight QF72 from Singapore to Perth in 2008 after it plunged out of control over the Indian Ocean, causing serious injuries, said many passengers on the Latam flight will need compensation for ongoing medical treatment.

“When a passenger goes through an ordeal like this it is terrifying, and as well as many serious physical injuries, there can be long-term psychological damage,” he said.

Carter said like Monday’s Latam flight, passengers on QF72 were flung weightless to the cabin ceiling during the dive.

“We know that in this recent accident, around 12 passengers were hospitalised and dozens injured, but we don’t know yet about how the injuries will affect them in the future.”

Fifty people were treated by St John once the plane landed in Auckland and 13 required further treatment in hospital. Four remained in Middlemore Hospital in a moderate condition on Tuesday night.

Latam said the injured passengers were from five countries. Ten passengers from Brazil, France, Australia, Chile and New Zealand, as well as three cabin crew, were all taken to hospital.

Following the 2008 incident, the aviation injury compensation liability regime was changed, allowing passengers to claim higher amounts of compensation.

“In the 2008 accident, passengers claimed against Qantas and I was able to negotiate substantial settlements with the airline’s insurers, who agreed to waive the then maximum damages limit of $500,000 for passengers whose future income earning capacity was severely restricted by their injuries,” said Carter.

Carter said Latam must pay for proven losses such as “medical expenses, loss of amenities or life and income loss” for proven bodily injury and all passengers on Monday’s flight are able to claim, “irrespective of where they live”.

In an email sent to passengers on the horror flight, which allegedly plunged several hundred feet in a matter of seconds, Latam expressed its “sincere apologies for the situation” and offered compensation for any expense incurred as a result of the situation, including accommodation, food and ground transportation.

The Herald understands Latam has not offered affected passengers any form of refund for plane fares after the incident.

Carter indicated he is investigating a claim for passengers aboard Latam Airlines flight LA800.

Authorities examine Boeing’s black box for answers

Meanwhile, authorities are examining the black box of the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner involved in Monday’s incident, which is expected to be paramount in showing what happened during the flight.

Otago University Emeritus Professor David O’Hare said black box recordings would provide detailed evidence of any control inputs made by the crew, as well as flight parameters showing airspeed, altitude and control settings.

“This would show, for example, if there had been an autopilot disconnect and whether this was associated with any pilot input. The cockpit voice recording would tell us what the crew said before, during and after the incident as well as any background sounds.”

Passengers on Monday's horror Latam Airline flight travelled to South America with the airline just a day later. Photo / Dean Purcell

O’Hare, who also holds a flight crew licence, added that the most important thing was little information is publicly available at the moment.

“Clear-air turbulence would be the most probable cause of this kind of in-flight upset. If there are other factors involved they will be identified following careful investigation and analysis.”

O’Hare said there is no reason to connect this incident with other recent events involving Boeing airliners.

“Nothing that we know at this point suggests any systemic problems with the 787 or any maintenance or inspection issues. Proper investigation takes time so it is far too early to go down this route.”

Pilot and aviation teacher Ashok Poduval earlier called the incident a “black swan” event.

He said speculation was unhelpful but, broadly speaking, a sudden loss of altitude could happen if an autopilot system malfunctioned or a plane experienced clear air turbulence.

Latam is the only airline flying directly between NZ and South America. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Poduval added the black box is not a single box that provides information, but that there are two key recorders in commercial airliners – the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and digital flight data recorder (DFDR).

“The CVR records communication on the flight deck between the pilots as well as between pilots and air traffic control. The DFDR records all in-flight parameters including engine performance parameters.”

While Monday’s incident was “quite rare”, Poduval said it served as a lesson for passengers to have seatbelts fastened, maybe loosely, whenever seated in an aircraft.

Investigation launched into cause of flight plunge

Latam said yesterday the cause of the incident, which it described as a “strong shake”, was under investigation.

A Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) spokesperson said Chile would be responsible for investigating because the incident occurred in international airspace.

Chile’s directorate general of civil aviation said TAIC would investigate and Chile would send a representative to join the inquiry.

It had asked TAIC for help and evidence was being gathered, including seizing the cockpit voice and flight data recorders.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesperson said they are supporting TAIC.

Benjamin Plummer is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He has worked for the Herald since 2022.