Is Malaysia Airlines Hoping Flight 370 Isn’t Found?

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 still has not been located — and for the airline, that could be a good thing.

According to The South China Morning Post, the airline will be forced to pay out $175,000 to the next of kin of each and every passenger on board the missing flight. In addition, families can sue the airline for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most families will choose to sue for “lost lifetime earnings of a victim” and with 239 passengers? That’s a lot of money.

However, with flight 370 still missing, the airline cannot prove that they are responsible 100 percent for what happened on March 8. Despite the fact that Malaysia Airlines assumes responsibility, they will be able to settle most if not all of any future lawsuits out-of-court because of the circumstances — which is ideal in this situation.

Alan Tan, a professor of aviation law at the National University of Singapore explained:

“When there is no cause identified, it is hard to see how the airline has or has not shown the absence of fault.”

If the Malaysia Airlines plane isn’t found, they might be able to save face by not disclosing any information about any lawsuits — and this means that they will be able to move past this tragedy faster and “rebuild their image” in the process.

Malaysian lawyer Jeremy Joseph explained:

“Because of its unprecedented nature, the courts are going to look at [MH370] very carefully. That is something the airline will try to avoid unless settlement expectations from the victims families are perceived by Malaysia Airlines as unreasonable.”

According to CNN, criticism surround Malaysia Airlines is still quite high. The airline has been far from transparent from the beginning. Since the plane is still missing, it’s hard for any questions to be answered — but much of the information that is known has not been willingly released. And some of the information that has been released has been wrong which is even more aggravating.

Theories about what might have happened to the Boeing 777 include pilot error, hijacking, and various plane malfunctions. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Al Qaeda has been mentioned more recently but without any terrorist groups taking responsibility, people are less likely to roll with the idea. Conspiracy theories — such as the belief that the plane landed safely on Diego Garcia Island — seem to be more believable in this case.

If Malaysia Airlines flight 370 is never found, that could be the best option for the airline — but it won’t provide any closure for families who are desperate to know what really happened to their loved ones. Do you the plane’s wreckage will ever be found?

[Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons]