Flight 370 Latest: Missing Jet To Be Declared ‘Lost,’ Compensation TBA [Report]
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing back in March, and search efforts have failed to produce one shred of evidence for the missing Boeing 777 aircraft. According to media sources, top officials with the commercial airline urged patience, and said that unless ongoing efforts to locate MAS Flight MH370 produces debris or credible information as to the plane’s whereabouts, the plane will be considered lost. Compensation will follow.
Hugh Dunleavy, the highest-ranking representative with the troubled airline on the ground in New Zealand, said that government officials with Australia and Malaysia are watching search efforts of Flight 370 closely for developments. Additionally, they are quietly transitioning to plans for compensating families once the jet and its 239 flight and crew are declared lost.
“We don’t have a final date but once we’ve had an official loss recorded we can work with the next of kin on the full compensation payments for those families.”
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 & Air France Flight 447 are the most Mysterious Plane Crashes of all time. pic.twitter.com/wAACOOzUfy
— Air Disasters (@AirCrashMayday) October 19, 2014
MAS has come under fire for allegedly trying to avoid payment to surviving family members for passengers possibly lost on 370. There’s also been no shortage of conspiracy theories, ranging from terrorism, government coverups and pilot suicide. Officials denied allegations of impropriety and have reiterated efforts in good faith to find the missing MH370 airplane. Dunleavy outlined initial steps to compensate passengers’ loved ones when the 370 plane is considered lost.
“We will ensure we do compensate them for the loss of their loved ones through our insurers. We are trying to hurry (compensation) up as much as we can but some of these things are outside the scope of the airline itself.”
“If they’re not happy with the compensation then they seek legal advice and move ahead, then once they come in our people will assess them and respond.”
The mystery of Malaysia Flight 370 is quite daunting. As many experts agree, the money and search efforts to locate the lost airliner are unprecedented. It highlights the importance of discovering new innovation to reach the depths of the ocean that is often overlooked.
Dr. Lisa Levin, a professor and researcher at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego agrees.
“We’ve seen so little, we’ve explored and sampled so little of the sea floor. Searching for this plane is a pretty good example of that.
The latest on missing Malaysia Flight 370 is bitter-sweet in some respects. On the one hand, should the airliner be deemed lost, it confirms loved ones’ worst nightmares. On the other hand, plans for compensation signals some form of closure.
[Image via: NBC News]
