MH370: US judge rejects firms bid to obtain evidence from MAS and Boeing

An United States judge on Monday had rejected Ribbeck Law Chartered’s motion to obtain evidence of possible design and manufacturing defects from the Malaysian Airlines (MAS) and Boeing Co which manufactured the MH370 plane which went missing on March 8.

Reuters also reported that Cook County Judge Kathy Flanagan had threatened to impose sanctions against the Chicago-based firm, citing previous instances where it had "improperly brought" petitions.

The firm had brought a petition on last year's Boeing 777 Asiana Airlines plane crash in San Francisco which killed three people.

"Despite these orders, the same law firm has proceeded, yet again, with the filing of the instant petition, knowing full well that there is no basis to do so," Flanagan was quoted by Reuters.

"Should this law firm choose to do so, the court will impose sanctions on its own motion."

The firm, representing the families of those onboard of the ill-fated aircraft filed the petition last week to secure evidence of possible design and manufacturing defects, which could have led to the flight ending at the southern Indian Ocean.

The filing initiates a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the airline and Boeing by the passengers’ families.

The petition, filed on behalf of Januari Siregar, whose son was one of the passengers of the flight, among others wants an order from the Court to provide the identity of manufacturers of various plane components, including electric components and wiring, batteries, emergency oxygen and fire alarm systems.

Other demands include asking the judge to order MAS to produce information on crew training for catastrophic incidents, security practices, safety training and crew evaluations.

It is also seeking the identity of the company or person who last inspected the fuselage and who provided maintenance.

It also wants US scientists be included in the search for wreckage and bodies.

The MH370 which was carrying 239 passengers and crew went missing while on its way to Beijing on March 8.

On March 24, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Tazak told in a specially convened press conference that the flight had ended in southern Indian Ocean.

Najib said this was based on data gleaned from INMARSAT and latest techniques never used before to calculate geographical location, it is now confirmed that MH370 flew south and is now somewhere in the Southern Indian Ocean.