Though Boeing was the airplane in the Flight 370 disaster, the inability to find the wreckage reduces the chances of any successful lawsuit being filed.

1. Malaysia’s Flight 370 Not Likely to Attract
Lawsuits in US
Though Boeing was the airplane in the Flight 370 disaster, the inability to find the
wreckage reduces the chances of any successful lawsuit being filed.
Ironically, tragic incidents in the world give attorneys more work. Lawsuits are filed
and the quest for retrieving damages is initiated. Lawyers, who are already
immersed with work up till their necks, have suddenly much more to handle. The
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reputation is at stake. Some help with the immense data transcription service
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No Lawsuits Filed in US Related to Flight 370
However, aviation litigation lawyers believe that there isn’t much chance for lawsuits
to be filed in the US against aircraft manufacturer Boeing in relation to the
disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. This is because any suit charging
faulty engineering in the Boeing 777 aircraft or due to the services it did cannot be
proven till the wreckage of the plane is found.
The other hurdle is the fact that most passengers who were onboard the ill-fated
flight were Asians who, being from nations other than the US, are prohibited by the
1999 Montreal Convention from suing in US courts. Law experts believe that the
relatives of the passengers, all of whom are feared dead, could sue in Malaysia or
China. As per the Montreal Convention the damages would then be set at around
$175,000 per passenger unless Malaysian Airlines is ruled to have shown negligence.
If the latter has been found to be true, it would raise the damages significantly.
No Airplane, No Proof
To prove that the airplane was defective or that it was a cause of the accident, the
wreckage must be identified. Without the plane there is no way to prove this. The
Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed into the southern Indian Ocean, one of the
remotest and deepest ocean areas in the world, around 1800 to 2000 kilometers
west of Perth, Australia. Massive search efforts by teams from Australia, United
States, Malaysia and other nations have failed to yield any results yet. Most
passengers of the flight, which veered off-course in its journey from Kuala Lumpur to
Beijing, were Chinese.
The reason why the flight changed course and turned off all communications and
tracking systems during the change of the course is a mystery. Mechanical trouble is
not considered the issue. On the other hand, theories including hijacking attempts
gone wrong, mid-air explosion by smartphone-activated bomb, and pilot suicide have
been suggested.

2. Discovery Petition in Chicago Rejected
However on the 25th
of March a law firm in Chicago, where Boeing’s headquarters are
located, did claim to represent one of the family members of a passenger of the
Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 and filed a discovery petition. This was based on a
ruling by the Illinois Supreme Court that allows the plaintiff to obtain some records
to identify potential defendants. However the petition was rejected by the Cook
County Circuit Court judge three days later.
Law firms in the US cannot therefore expect any more paperwork coming their way
as a result of the Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disaster unless the wreckage is found.
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