Another 36 MH370 passengers file lawsuits in Malaysia

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR

With the deadline for legal action relating to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 ending at midnight Monday, 52 families of passengers on board have now filed lawsuits.

The families of 36 passengers on board MH370 filed their cases in the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday. Four of the missing passengers were Malaysians, while the remainder were from China, Australia and India.

Lawyer Ganesan Nethi, who is acting on behalf of some 76 family members, told Anadolu Agency that plaintiffs have not set any compensation amount, as they are willing to allow the law to determine appropriate amounts for their loss.

"They are very confident on the local law and judiciary. That is why we are not putting any specifics in terms of damages claim. We will present all our claims to the court and allow the law to take its course."

Last week, families of 12 passengers initiated legal proceedings, while the families of another four passengers have long standing claims.

To-date, only one case has been settled out of court -- in June last year.

All suits name Malaysia Airlines, the government and the country's Department of Civil Aviation as primary defendants and claim the MH370 vanished because of government negligence.

Malaysia Airlines' spokesperson Mohammad Faiz Azmi told Anadolu Agency in a text message Monday that until the end of February, the airline had approved 96 requests from MH370 families to take legal action, however some had chosen not to do so.

He added that 42 families have collected full compensation from the carrier.

"MAS have not rejected any request for legal suits," he said. "The airline will continue to adhere to international conventions in providing compensations and insurance pay-outs."

Under the Montreal Convention, all action related to missing aircraft must be filed within two years. Monday is also the deadline to submit any insurance claims for missing passengers.

Outside of the primary defendants, plaintiffs also include the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) for alleged conspiracy, fraud and failure to fulfil statutory obligations.

MH370 vanished an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8 2014 carrying 239 passengers and crew members, including 152 Chinese citizens.

The search and rescue mission -- which began immediately -- involved some 160 assets inclusive of 65 aircraft and 95 vessels as well as experts from 25 countries.

After 10 months of intensive undersea search for the vanished flight, on Jan. 29 2015 Malaysia declared that MH370 was lost in an accident, killing all passengers.