Sixteen victims who suffered sexual abuse at the hands of a British Airways (BA) pilot plan to file a lawsuit against the airline after they were allegedly molested during stopovers made in African schools and orphanages, lawyers stated Wednesday.

The 54-year-old pilot, Simon Wood, has been dead for almost a year after being hit by a train in August last year.

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He died two weeks prior to the scheduled hearing. His charges included indecent assault and taking indecent photos of a minor.

According to a law firm representing the victims, BA should be held liable for the actions of then-pilot Simon Wood who purportedly carried out the crime against girls and young women in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.

"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 airlines' community relations work," Leigh Day lawyer Nichola Marshall told Reuters.

Marshall represents 16 of Wood's reported victims aged between eight and 20 years old.

According to the lawyer, her clients attended schools and orphanages in Africa which Wood visited on behalf of British Airways in order to give charitable donations.

The deceased pilot had been arrested in November 2001 for an alleged indecent assault but was freed after prosecutors decided that the evidence presented was not enough to jail Wood for the crime, BBC reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a British Airlines spokesperson conveyed surprise regarding the allegations against the former pilot and expressed their sympathies to the abuse victims.

However, BA was careful to articulate that any crimes Wood committed were done "outside the scope of his employment with British Airways."

The charges are due to be heard in a London court, with one count of indecent assault of a minor, two counts for producing and one for possessing indecent images of a child.

TagsBritish Airways, simon wood, BA sexual assault, british airways lawsuit