Employers Liable for Andes Helicopter Disaster

The widow and children of an investment banker who was killed in a helicopter crash in the Andes during a work trip are in line for a multi-million-pound compensation award after the High Court ruled that his employers were liable for the tragedy.

The father-of-two and former Cambridge scholar, who earned more than £100,000 a year, was one of a dozen executives en route to inspect a hydro-electricity project when a chartered helicopter crashed into a Peruvian mountain in 2012. All of those on board, including the two crew members, died.

The Court found that there had been a lack of knowledge, or a disregard, of the helicopter's limitations amidst the extremely demanding mountainous terrain. The weather was deteriorating and, in failing to abort the mission, the crew 'failed to withstand pressure' from clients who wanted to catch connecting flights.

Ruling in favour of the man's family, the Court found that his employers had failed in their duty to investigate the safety of the helicopter's proposed route. Had sensible inquiries been made, the company would have learned that at least one helicopter operator had raised safety concerns about flying across the High Andes and the party would probably have travelled by coach instead.

Although the man was prepared to take risks – he was described as an 'adrenaline junkie' who enjoyed skiing, bungee jumping and mountain climbing – he was also a devoted family man and would probably have travelled by land had his employers instructed him to do so. The amount of the family's compensation has yet to be assessed, but it is likely to run into seven figures.

The widow said after the decision, "It is with pride that I can tell my children that this decision will hopefully change the way in which other employers approach business travel to remote regions of the world. If that means that even just one less wife, child or parent suffers what we have had to suffer, then something positive has come out of this pain."

An employer's duty to take reasonable steps to eliminate or minimise obvious risks to employees' health and safety is not limited to the workplace itself but extends to situations such as this where an employee is on a fact finding mission in a foreign country.

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