Villagers can claim damages for Stansted crash trauma

A group of villagers who witnessed a Korean Airlines cargo jet crash shortly after take-off from Stansted airport has won the right to claim tens of thousands of pounds in damages for psychiatric injury.

All four crew members died when a Boeing 747 on its way to Milan came down in a fireball on the edge of Hatfield Forest, near Great Hallingbury, Essex, in December 1999.

Yesterday a High Court judge ruled that the 13 witnesses to the disaster could claim damages for psychiatric injury as well as physical loss or damage.

Until the ruling nobody had been able to make a claim for post-traumatic stress disorder under the Civil Aviation Act 1982, which was held to refer only to physical injuries. But Mr Justice Simon ruled that the reference to "material loss or damage" was not limited to "physical loss or damage". He awarded the claimants 80 per cent of their costs and granted the airline, which denied liability, permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Philip Shepherd, counsel for the claimants, said they were all in immediate proximity of the "terrifying" crash and believed their lives were in danger.

Aviation fuel was spread over a large area around the crater left in the forest, and the impact of the explosions could be felt many miles away.

He quoted from a claim brought by Leonard Glen, who was in his house when he heard someone shout that the jet was crashing. He became aware of screaming and the house was plunged into darkness before being lit up "red and orange". He heard noises like loud, rumbling thunder and the house began to shake violently with dust falling from the ceiling. It became extremely hot, the noise became louder and he waited for his home to collapse, thinking his family was about to die. He was confronted with a ball of flames at his front door so high it was impossible to see where it ended. He had to stop his wife running into the flames in search of their daughter, who later turned up safe.

The claimants will have their case for damages heard later this year at the High Court.

Geraldine McCool, solicitor for the villagers, welcomed the ruling. "They never knew how, in the year 2003, it could reasonably be said that we don't recognise mental injuries."

Ms McCool said the total claim for damages would be £400,000. She said most of the families had moved away from the airport, and all were scared of flying. "They don't like living near an airport because every time they see a plane in the sky it reminds them of what happened. If the case is successful, some of the money will be spent on therapy for the victims to overcome their fear."

She said the claim covered people of all ages, from children to an elderly man who had lived through the Blitz. "Brian Howard-McLennan, who was a child in London during the Second World War, threw himself on the floor and shouted, 'This one's for us' when he saw the plane," said Ms McCool. "A piece of the aircraft came through his car window."

She added that the crash also caused widespread physical damage. "All the houses are on clay, so there are no foundations," she said. "One of the properties, Spring Cottage, was lifted off the ground as a result of the explosion, and dumped back down again. That didn't do it much good."

Last year people living near Stansted won another legal victory when the High Court ruled that ministers must reconsider plans to develop more runway space in Britain. The ruling was also a victory for Essex County Council, Kent County Council, Medway District Council and local residents opposing the expansion of Stansted, or the option of a new airport at Cliffe on the Thames Estuary in Kent.