British Airways is to be sued for damages over claims one of its pilots sexually abused children in African schools and orphanages.
First officer Simon Wood has been accused of carrying out the attacks during stopovers in African destinations.
Wood died in August of last year when he was struck by a train. At the time he was awaiting a court appearance related to the abuse allegations and making indecent images of children.
The law firm Leigh Day said Wood allegedly molested children during stopovers in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania while flying for British Airways.
Lawyer Nichola Marshall said: “We allege that Wood was able to abuse the victims, by reason of his employment with the airline, in particular through his involvement with the airline’s community relations work.
“The schools and orphanages that our clients attended were all in receipt of charitable donations from the airline and Wood played a key role in administering those donations on behalf of British Airways.”
Wood was among 20 crew members from two BA flights who volunteered to spend the holiday period with Kenyan youngsters from orphanages in Easter 2002.
A British Airways spokesman said: “We were shocked and horrified to hear the allegations against Simon Wood, which appear to relate to his involvement in child-related activities entirely outside the scope of his employment with British Airways.”