Intentionally Mislabeled Cargo That Leaked And Corroded A330

Dalian, a Chinese state-run company has been ordered to pay a record $65 million in compensation, plus interest, for destroying a Malaysia Airlines Airbus A330 jet with falsely declared cargo with corrosive chemicals, according to Reuters.

The jet was damaged when 80 canisters belonging to the Dalian branch of the China National Chemical Construction leaked oxalyl chloride, a corrosive and caustic chemical in the cargo hold, in March 2000. An acrid odor was detected by the flight crew before landing the flight from Beijing at Kuala Lumpur, on its way to India. Five ground handlers became ill while unloading the canisters that were to be sold to an Indian company.

The flight's passengers were offloaded without incident, but Airbus officials concluded that the $130 million aircraft was so badly corroded that the damage could not be repaired. The Beijing Higher People's Court ruled this week that the Dalian company is to blame by mis-identifying the canisters as being a safe powder-type chemical.

The ruling comes after a five-year lawsuit that ordered the company to pay five foreign insurers of Maylasia Airlines $65 million in compensation, plus interest. The ruling marks the highest ever compensation awarded by the Beijing court over a civil lawsuit in the Chinese Capitol.

There is no word on whether either side will appeal the case.

FMI: www.cnccc.com.cn/web/cnccc.nsf/english?openform