Malaysia Airlines Is Being Sued By This Woman For "Deliberately Altering Route" Of MH370
She claims that her family has suffered from "nervous shock" over the unfortunate MH370 incident.
By Nandini Balakrishnan — 25 Feb 2016, 04:38 PM
It has been almost two years since the tragic, mind-boggling MH370 incident happened on 8 March 2014.
Just days before the second anniversary of the incident, a Victorian woman who lost her husband when the flight went missing, is suing Malaysia Airlines for negligence.
MH370 widow Jennifer Chong was dealt another blow last year when her home was burgled
Image via David Caird/ News Corp AustraliaJennifer Chong, 48, from Kew, has launched legal action in the Victorian Supreme Court over the death of her husband of 23 years, Chong Ling Tan.
In her writ filed with the court, Mrs Chong said her husband had been seated in business class seat 1C on the doomed March 8, 2014, flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared.
Mrs Chong said that in late January 2015, the Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation declared the plane's disappearance had been an accident and there were no survivors.
According to Victorian English daily, The Age, Mrs Chong claims that she and her two sons have suffered from "nervous shock" over the untimely death of her husband
"Further the defendant (Malaysia Airlines) owed a duty of care to the deceased and other passengers and crew on the flight in relation to their safety and well-being," the widow said in her writ.
Mrs Chong said the airline was vicariously responsible for the actions of its crew "who failed to ensure the aircraft safely reached its destination and/or who deliberately altered the course of the aircraft resulting in its loss at sea".
It added that the nervous shock suffered by the 49-year-old widow and sons, now aged 19 and 15, was a "direct and foreseeable consequence of the disappearance of the defendant's aircraft".
The writ also alleges that the "aircraft would have not disappeared" if Malaysia Airlines had ensured that the flight was supervised, tracked and monitored at all times
She said the airline had breached its duty of care to her husband and could not prove his death was not due to their negligence or other wrongful act.
Mrs Chong said the airline was negligent in failing to ensure:
- the flight was safe for her husband and the other passengers.
- reasonable and adequate precautions were taken on the flight.
- the flight was supervised.
- the flight was carried out in a safe and proper manner.
- the flight was monitored and tracked at all times.
- the airline and its crew followed all proper procedures.
Just days after the Malaysian government officially declared that flight MH370 was an accident and that all its crew and passengers are presumed dead, Mrs Chong's suffered yet another blow when her house was robbed in February 2015
Ms Chong has been one of the more outspoken next of kin, speaking candidly in the past of her acute heartbreak and her hope of seeing her husband again.
Her pain was exacerbated last year by the theft of the couple’s weddings rings, her husband’s luxury watch and jade collections and money set aside for their sons’ educations.
Hers is the first case filed in Australia in relation to the MH370 disaster. Other cases filed in Kuala Lumpur have settled out of court, or are still in negotiation.
news.com.au
Despite the best joint efforts of multiple countries to locate the missing plane, only a piece of flaperon was found late last year at the remote Indian Ocean of La Reunion
The French police inspect a large piece of plane debris that was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on Reunion Island in July 2015
Image via Reuters/ Sydney Morning HeraldThe Boeing 777 wing part found on the remote Indian Ocean island of La Reunion is from missing flight MH370, French authorities said Thursday after almost one month of forensic analysis.
Investigators were finally able to match a serial number on the flaperon, which washed shore on the French island on July 29, to parts used in the manufacture of the doomed Malaysia Airlines plane.
The match was made following confirmation with a technician from Airbus Defense and Space (ADS-SAU) in Spain, which had made the part for Boeing,
"It is now possible to state with certainty that the flaperon found on July 29, 2015 corresponds to the flight MH370," French investigators said in a statement.
As of today, investigators and authorities involved in the search have not been able to provide any possible explanation as to what really happened to flight MH370
A stewardess seen tearing up at a memorial for victims of MH370 in July 2014
Image via Thanhnien NewsNo plausible explanation has ever been offered for the plane’s disappearance and the court documents highlight the lack of firm evidence about the aircraft’s whereabouts.
The documents note that “the last radar trace of the defendant’s aircraft was detected — 7 hours and 31 minutes after departure from Kuala Lumpur International Airport — but do not say where.
A search update issued by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau today, 25 February, reaffirmed the complex, underwater operation in the southern Indian Ocean would end when the 120,000 square kilometre high priority zone was completely examined.
news.com.au
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines has assured that they will provide "fair and equitable" compensation to all the all flight MH370's next of kin, while reminding that the final date for claims is on 8 March 2016
Reuters file picture shows a woman whose husband was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, holding a sign during a gathering of family members of the missing passengers outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing March 8, 2015
Image via Reuters"MAS has on numerous occasions kept all next of kin (NOK) informed of the two-year limitation period under the Montreal Convention, which in the case of MH370 ends on March 8, 2016, in order to ensure that those affected take the necessary steps to preserve their legal rights," the company said in a statement.
In the same statement, the Administrator of MAS assured that the company would continue to fulfill all its obligations to those affected by the MH370 tragedy, in accordance with applicable international conventions and law.
The Administrator has granted a total of 96 requests from NOK to commence legal proceedings.
"No requests have been rejected. In addition, 42 NOK have collected full compensation. MAS has insurance coverage in place to meet its obligation to pay compensation to NOK as per its obligations under applicable international conventions and law," it said.
Flight MH370 which was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 12:41am on 8 March 2014, and disappeared from radar screens an hour later when it flying over the South China Sea. It was due to reach the Beijing Capital International Airport at 6:30am on the same day.
A shipwreck that was initially thought to be a plane debris field in the southern Indian Ocean
Image via AAP