Latest developments:

  • MH370 out-of-court settlements expected for MAS
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Out-of-court settlements expected

 

1.33pm: Legal experts expect Malaysia Airlines (MAS) and next-of-kin on board the ill-fated Flight MH370 to go for out-of-court settlements with the plane remaining missing for more than two months.

 

"Because of its unprecedented nature, the courts are going to look at (MH370) very carefully. That is something the airline will try to avoid unless settlement expectations from the victims’ families are perceived by Malaysia Airlines as unreasonable," lawyer Jeremy Joseph was quoted as saying by AFP.

 

If the 2009 Air France Flight 447 disaster were to be a precedent, only a small number of suits were filed with a Brazillian court which awarded one family an equivalent of US$500,000, said the report.

 

MAS is  vulnerable  to civil suits on top of the approximately RM575,000 compensation per passenger as laid out in the Montreal Convention because without the aircraft's wreckage, MAS cannot prove it was not responsible for the plane's lost.

 

Background:

  • The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers. 
  • Authorities have determined that the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons and, based on satellite data, have estimated its last position to be in the south Indian Ocean. 
  • Australia leads the search in the south Indian Ocean. As of March 30, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) is tasked with overseeing the operations, led by retired air marshal and former defence chief Angus Houston.
  •  The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 was deployed on April 14 to conduct an undersea search where the Australia Defence Vessel Ocean Shield had picked up two pings similar to black boxes on April 5 and two more on April 8 but failed to reacquire them again with the pinger locator. 
  • However, by April 28, with no sign of the wreckage, authorities announced that the search will move on the next phase, which will focus on a larger and deeper area of the sea floor, while the aerial search will cease as it is highly unlikely any floating debris will be found at this stage.