A court in Braunschweig has opened a new civil case linked to the 2015 Germanwings crash and signalled that relatives of victims are unlikely to succeed in their claim against Germany. The Landgericht Braunschweig indicated the lawsuit against the Federal Republic over alleged failures in aviation oversight faces dismissal, with a ruling expected on 6 October. The case centres on compensation claims arising from the Germanwings Airbus A320 disaster, which killed 150 people.
The chamber’s preliminary view was that the claim has no prospect of success and that any claims should primarily have been directed at the airline rather than the state. The hearing concerns the role of the Luftfahrt-Bundesamt, the German aviation authority based in Braunschweig, and whether the federal government bears civil responsibility for the handling of pilot medical oversight before the crash.
The current proceeding is not a final judgment, and the court will still review the parties’ arguments before issuing its decision. Earlier claims against the airline were unsuccessful, leaving the latest case focused on the limits of state liability in aviation-related compensation disputes.