Mum breaks down in plane crash suit

KUALA LUMPUR: Emotions ran high during a suit against a flight academy over the death of a student in an aeroplane crash, as the deceased’s mother recounted the tragic events in the High Court.

Nowran Begam Mohamed Saliff is suing the Royal Selangor Flying Club (RSFC) for the loss of her son Mohamed Ihsan Saiyed Abu Thahir, who had died when his aircraft crashed on Oct 29, 2009.

It was reported that Mohd Ishan’s Eagle twin-seater light plane had crashed in the jungle in Lembah Beringin, Hulu Selangor, and the trainee pilot was believed to have died on the spot.

Nowran Begam, 55, said she did not know her son was flying solo on what would have been his last flight before he was due for his pilot’s licence test.

When asked by the club’s lawyer T. Gunaseelan why she was suing the club and its flight instructor S. Nantha Kumar Devar, Nowran Begam retorted that the teacher and club should be held responsible as they were teaching her son to fly.

The widow said that after her husband's passing, she had specifically told her son not to do anything dangerous as he was the sole breadwinner of the family.

During cross-examination by Gunaseelan, Nowran Begam wept when asked questions about her son, and at one point even broke down, prompting Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera to call for a short recess for the mother to regain her composure.

The second witness, Department of Civil Aviation deputy director of airworthiness Idrus Abdul Rahman, told the court that the accident was caused by the pilot's inability to correct the plane.

The committee that investigated the crash concluded that Mohamed Ihsan would have been adequately trained for a solo flight.

However, when asked by Nowran Begam's lawyer M. Nagarajah if the trainee pilot would have been trained for flying in poor weather conditions (like on the night of the accident), Idrus said it was unlikely.

In the suit filed at the High Court here on Oct 17, 2012, Nowran Begam sought RM242,239.20 in special damages for the loss of her son's possible income, funeral expenses and various other costs.

She also sought RM500,000 in punitive damages.

In its reply, the defendants argued that the accident was due to human error.

They added that Mohamed Ihsan had known the risks of flying and signed a disclaimer not to sue in the event of an accident.

However, Nowran Begam's lawyers countered that such an agreement to restrain legal proceedings was void as one could not disregard liability.

The hearing continues today.