On Feb. 28, the Nagoya High Court dismissed an appeal by the children of a couple, who died in a China Airlines plane crash at Nagoya airport in 1994, in which they demanded the court find not only the airline but also the French plane maker Airbus S.A.S. responsible for the disaster.

Upholding a lower court's decision in 2003, the high court ordered the Taiwanese airline to pay some 98 million yen in compensation to Kazuyo Hakamata, 51, and her brother Hiroshi Aozawa, 49, while exempting Airbus from responsibility.

The Nagoya District Court ruled in December 2003 that the crash, which killed 264 people, was due to recklessness by the co-pilot of the Airbus A300-600R, but rejected the plaintiffs' argument that there were defects in the airplane's autopilot and warning systems.