MH17: MAS aware of lawsuit by Australian families
T K Letchumy Tamboo
December 4, 2014 13:46 MYT
December 4, 2014 13:46 MYT
The Boeing 777 was travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17 went it was shot down over eastern Ukraine. - File Photo
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is aware of the lawsuit that eight Australian families are reportedly initiating against the airline, Russia, Ukraine as well as Malaysia.
“Malaysia Airlines is aware of the lawsuit and our lawyers have been advised of this development.
“At this point in time, our top priority remains to provide any and all assistance to the families of the passengers and crew. Other matters will be dealt with appropriately,” said MAS in a statement today.
According to a report in News.com.au, international aviation lawyer Jerry Skinner has been engaged to represent the eight families.
“Something creative is going to have to be done here because this is too big and too complicated for the judicial system to handle on its own and it involves people who will not yield to the judicial system, such as the Russians and the Ukrainians.
“The parties that are the main participants here are probably the Russians and their allies and also Malaysia Airlines. Both of them bear a lot of responsibility for this,” he said.
The lawsuit is expected to be filed with the European Court of Human Rights and other families are also considering joining the action.
Skinner said these families deserve the same compensation as the Lockerbie families.
“They want to know everything. Right now, they know very little other than they suffered great loss.
“Did my loved ones suffer? Was it such that it was almost instantaneous? Who fired it?
“They want to know and I think that they’re entitled to know.
“The goal of the system is always reduced to dollars, but the goal of the human side of it is they want answers and we’ll get as many answers as we can,” Skinner said.
He also rejected the notion that Ukraine should bear sole responsibility for the tragedy but said he was waiting on information currently with lead investigative agency, the Dutch Safety Board.
“What we need is the political information obtained that identifies the actors who made the operational decisions,” he said.
According to Skinner, the lawsuit could be lodged as early as April or May next year, and would likely include the matter of compensation.
MAS has maintained it will meet its obligation to compensate family members of those killed in the tragedy under the Montreal Convention 1999.
Under the multilateral treaty, MAS is liable to pay about $180,000 compensation for each life list, regardless of whether the airline is responsible for causing death or injury.