Judge awards Guyana plane crash survivor $272,000

HARTFORD, Conn. – A federal judge has ordered an airline to pay about $272,000 in damages to a Connecticut woman injured in a plane crash in South America in 2011.

Judge Michael Shea in Hartford ruled Tuesday that Caribbean Airlines was responsible for the injuries of Waterbury resident Indrawatie Shiwbodh (ihn-drah-WHA’-tee SHIV’-bud). The decision came in Shiwbodh’s lawsuit against the airline and after a non-jury trial before Shea.

Shiwbodh was among 157 passengers and six crew members on a Boeing 737-800 that overshot the runway and broke in half at Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Guyana. No one died, but dozens were injured. The flight originated from Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Authorities said pilot error caused the crash.

The airline settled lawsuits by more than 150 other passengers.