Families of the passengers onboard the ill-fated Malaysia Airline passenger jet are reportedly expected to receive compensation from the airline totaling 110 million dollars.
As the search for the missing jet's possible debris continues in the Indian Ocean, attention has been turned into how much the families of the 239 passengers and crew could expect to receive for their loss.
A solicitor at Carney's Lawyers focusing on aviation, Bradley Hayward, said that an international law known as the Montreal Convention guarantees the next of kin up to 1,75,000 dollars, news.com.au reports.
However, he said that there is no limit on the amount of compensation that could be paid if Malaysia Airlines cannot prove it wasn't at fault.
The next of kin of victims of Air France Flight 447 crash on June 1, 2009 had each received 1,77,000 dollars in direct compensation from the airline.
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Malaysia Airlines has already given 5,000 dollars per passenger to their families, and provided hotel, transportation, meals and other expenses for up to five family members since the flight disappeared on March 8.
Analysts expect the final compensation bill to run into hundreds of millions of dollars as law suits begin and the airline's insurers prepare to pay out.
Meanwhile, Strategic Aviation Solutions chairman Neil Hansford said that if the search effort goes much more than a week or 10 days in the southern Indian Ocean, it would cost tens of millions.
The search for the missing Flight MH 370 has been narrowed to the search zone in southern Indian Ocean, but so far no debris has been extracted based on the satellite images showing suspected objects.
