On Dec. 28, 2014, AirAsia Flight 8501, an Airbus A320 carrying seven crew members and 155 passengers, departed Juanda International Airport in Surabaya, Indonesia, bound for Singapore’s Changi Airport. After climbing to cruise altitude, the crew requested permission to deviate from the airplane’s flight path and to climb due to poor weather conditions.1 Air traffic control gave permission for the turn, but was not able to grant the request for the climb because of conflicting air traffic in the area. That was the last anyone heard from the flight. After this communication the jet disappeared from radar and crashed into the Java Sea.
It will be some months before we learn what caused Flight 8501 to crash. It is not too soon, however, to examine the different laws that may govern the rights of the victims’ families against AirAsia.
