Canadian court upholds ruling ordering Ukrainian airline to compensate victims of plane downed in Iran

An Ontario appeals court on Aug. 11 upheld a ruling that Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) must pay compensation to the families of those killed in the downing of Flight PS752 in Iran, dismissing the airline's bid to overturn the earlier decision.

The decision relates to UIA Flight PS752, which was shot down on Jan. 8, 2020, minutes after takeoff from Tehran by two surface-to-air missiles launched by Iran's air defense forces.

All 176 people aboard — citizens of Iran, Canada, Ukraine, Sweden, Afghanistan, Germany, and the U.K. — were killed.

International law requires the airline company to pay up to $180,000 per passenger in damages if found at fault, with higher sums possible if negligence is proven. In 2024, an Ontario court found UIA negligent for failing to properly assess risks before operating its scheduled flight from Tehran, removing the carrier's right to limit payouts to the victims' families.

The appeals court rejected UIA's arguments that the trial judge erred in awarding costs to multiple groups of plaintiffs' lawyers, finding no grounds to interfere with what it called a "nuanced and discretionary" assessment.

The court also ordered UIA to pay the respondents' legal costs for the appeal.

After the plane crash, Iran initially denied responsibility, blaming mechanical failure, but later admitted its forces had mistakenly targeted the jet amid heightened tensions with the United States.

The shootdown occurred hours after Iran launched missile strikes on U.S. forces in Iraq. Tehran refused to allow an independent investigation at the crash site.

An Iranian court sentenced 10 military personnel over the incident in April 2023, but the International Coordination and Response Group, representing the victims' countries, dismissed the proceedings as a "sham."

Ukraine, Canada, Sweden, and the U.K. brought a case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in July 2023, accusing Iran of violating international law by targeting a civilian aircraft.