Dubai Civil Court has awarded Russian siblings Dh800,000 in compensation for the death of their parents in a flydubai passenger jet crash two years ago.
In a case that is the first of its kind in the UAE, the brother and sister initially sought $20 million (Dh73.6m) in compensation after their parents were killed along with 62 passengers and crew members in a plane crash in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, in 2016.
They accused the crew of flight FZ981, which was travelling from Dubai to Rostov-on-Don, of causing the crash and filed a case against flydubai in September last year.
The court referred the case to the General Civil Aviation Authority in December.
A civil aviation expert reviewed the documents presented by both parties and investigated whether the siblings were entitled to compensation. They checked flight data to ensure the identities of the two deceased passengers and checked the airline's insurance policy for the flight.
The court also ordered the official to indicate whether the amount claimed by the siblings for material and moral damages exceeded those included in the Montreal Convention — a treaty signed by more than 140 countries in 1999 related to compensation for victims of air disasters.
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Court records did not disclose when the expert completed his investigations, nor when the final report was submitted to court.
The Boeing 737-800 passenger jet circled the south Russia airport for four hours after an initial landing attempt was aborted due to high winds.
On its second landing attempt, the plane plunged to the ground and burst into flames about 250 metres short of the runway.
All those on board were killed.
