Many of the bereaved in the September 11, 2001 strikes perpetrated by al-Qaeda militants say they can't face the red tape applying to the fund entails, including placing a dollar value on the life of a lost loved one, associations representing victims say.

In addition, many families have not applied for funds from the pool set aside by Congress in order not to compromise their right in the future to sue the airlines and aircraft builders involved, as well as the World Trade Center owners.

Monica Gabrielle, co-chairwoman of the Skyscraper Safety Campaign whose husband Richard was killed when the World Trade Center's twin towers collapsed, says that a ruling Tuesday that made such lawsuits a possibility was "the first thing that has given us any hope of accountability and responsibility."

A federal judge in New York ruled Tuesday that families of victims of the attacks could sue for damages from airlines, airport security officials, an aircraft builder and the public entity that owned the World Trade Center.

The decision could encourage other families reluctant to get deal with the federal compensation fund to sign onto class action lawsuits.

To date, only 1,278 families of September 11 victims have applied to the fund. But some 1,700 families of the victims may still put in their request ahead of the December 22 deadline, said Justice Department spokesman Charles Miller.

Around 3,000 people in all died in the attacks on the New York targets, the Pentagon outside Washington, and in the downing of a plane in Pennsylvania.

Compensation payouts are assessed according to factors including age and the victim's potential earnings if he or she had been a family's breadwinner.

Life insurance and death or pension benefits are subtracted from the payouts. And the specter of such deductions may be another reason some not have applied.