Flight MH370 Update: Families File Lawsuits As Search For Malaysia Airlines Boeing Aircraft Set To End

Families of the passengers from missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 have filed multiple lawsuits as the search for the Boeing aircraft is set to end in early March. Several U.S., Malaysian and Australian law firms have begun filing suits on behalf of families of passengers for millions of dollars, Agence France-Presse reported Thursday.

“We can’t let the world forget 239 lives. We can’t let such a tragedy happen again,” Jack Song, a Chinese national whose sister was a passenger, told AFP.

Flight MH370 was traveling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014 when it disappeared from radar. Carrying some 239 passengers and crew, the plane’s mysterious disappearance shocked both the friends and families of those on board as well as international observers who did not understand how a Boeing aircraft simply could disappear.

The search for the plane is nearing the two-year mark, and only one piece of evidence confirmed to be from the plane has been found. A flaperon later confirmed by experts to be from MH370 was discovered on French Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean in July 2015. The debris offered few clues as to what actually happened to the plane, however, and investigators have said the only piece of the plane that would clarify its fate would be the voice data recorder, or black box, which has not been discovered.

The family suits cite a variety of entities, some suing for damages from Malaysian Airlines’ insurance provider, Allianz, others suing Boeing, which made the aircraft, and still others filing claims against the Malaysian government, accusing it of mishandling the investigation and not communicating with families. Families are eligible to receive as much as $160,000 in damages for loved ones lost on the plane though many have said they want someone held accountable, not more money.