MOSCOW, February 16 - RAPSI. British Gulf International Co. LTD (UAE) has contested the court judgment against its $588,000 lawsuit against GUTA-Insurance to collect the insurance indemnity for the 2008 air crash in Iraq, the court told the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) on Thursday.

The company appealed against the Moscow Commercial Court's December 30 dismissal of its action.

According to British Gulf International Co. LTD, it entered into an insurance contract regarding the An-12 aircraft with GUTA-Insurance on April 20, 2008.

Under the contract, the insurance risks were defined in accordance with the standard aircraft insurance regulations implying that in the event of the aircraft's total loss the insurer shall indemnify it in full or provide a replacement aircraft. The indemnity amounted to $600,000.

The insured An-12 crashed in the Al Anbar province not far from Baghdad International Airport on November 13, 2008.

The court ruled that the air crash should not be qualified as an insured event since the crashed aircraft was operated by a lower class pilot than required by the insurance contract. The court dismissed the claim because the An-12 was operated by a second class pilot whereas the contract implied the insured aircraft was to be operated by a first class pilot only.

Moreover the plaintiff has filed to provide sufficient evidence in support of its claims.

The only proof of the insured aircraft's total loss was the final report of the An-12 air accident issued by the Iraqi civil aviation safety department on June 16, 2009.