Lost Bullion Claims

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7241, 22 August 1933, Page 5

Lost Bullion Claims

SAFES IN AEROPLANES Bullion worth £4425j lost, after consignment for carriage by air between Bagdad and London, was the subject of an action before Mr. .Justice MacKinnon in London recently. Plaintiff, Efraim Heskel Aslan, of Bagdad, sued Imperial Airways Limited, to recover damages for. tne ,lqs,s, ..of the gold. Mr. Aslan alleged that it was being transhipped to the seaplane Satyrus at Tiberias, and was lost because it was put into a compartment secured by a single lock and a string lashing which was not secure against thieves. Imperial Airways denied the negligence alleged, and pleaded that the gold was carried at the owner’s risk. The case came up for decision on a preliminary question of law: Were Imperial Airways liable, even if the gold were lost through being put in a place not secure against thieves or owing to some other negligence on their part?. Counsel for Imperial Airways said that one of the difficults about carrya safe in an aeroplane like the Satyrus was that it would fall through the tloor. They could not have heavy enough to support even a small safe, and the idea of putting in a burglar proof compartment for bullion was quite out of the question. Mr Justice MacKinnon held that, whatever the faets that might be proved at the trial, Imperial Airways wjre protected by tbe terms of the contract in respect of the oniy aiibiiity tnat rested on them. He therefore decided the preliminary issue in favour of Imperial Airways, Limited.

It was intimated that there would probably be an appeal.