Sons sue MAS for losing their dad
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Airline sued for breaching pact with passengers when it let MH370 to go missing
Two children of a passenger on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have filed lawsuits against the airline and four others.
High Court deputy registrar K Pavani has ordered all defendants to file their statement of defence over the suit before December 15, and has set January 12 for the matter to be heard before a trial judge, the children’s lead council Dr Arunan Selvaraj said.
Speaking to reporters after the case was called before Pavani in chambers yesterday, Arunan said they were now in the midst of identifying witnesses.
“We have a lot of witnesses. We have very good leads. We are filtering who will be called as our witnesses,” he said. Foreign experts have e-mailed, offering to help in the case.
Arunan said they want answers to various queries over the missing plane.
“The plane is said to have ended at the Indian Ocean, so what is the conclusion?
“We are interested to know what transpired when the plane went missing on March 8,” he said.
In the suit, the plaintiffs have also named the civil aviation director-general, the immigration director-general, the air force chief and the government as defendants.
On October 31, the two boys aged 13 and 11 filed the civil claim through their mother Ng Pearl Ming, 38.
Their father, Jee Jing Hang, 41, was a businessman on board the Beijing-bound flight.
In the statement of claim, the boys said their father had entered into an agreement with MAS for safe passage to Beijing when he paid the airfare.
Claim of negligence
They alleged that Malaysia Airlines was negligent and failed to take all due safety measures, and that the government did not try to establish contact within reasonable time after the flight disappeared from radar.
They also alleged that the immigration department failed in its duties by allowing passengers with fake identities onto the plane.
They claimed that MAS had breached the agreement when the plane failed to land in Beijing at 6.30am on March 8.
The plaintiffs are seeking for damages over the loss of support and mental anguish suffered by them as a result of the incident.
It is the first suit against the airline and the government relating to MH370, which disappeared without a trace on March 8 an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur destined for China.
