MAS meets reps of Chinese kin of MH370 passengers

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has met representatives of the Chinese families of MH370 passengers and says it will respond soon to their request for an explanation regarding the flight’s disappearance being declared an accident.

MAS said group CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya and members of its next of kin management committee met three of the 15 family representatives, who arrived here from China on Wednesday.

It said Ahmad Jauhari had received their letter and would issue a written reply to their queries “within the next few days”.

“Since the beginning of the accident, the airline has given its full commitment to the investigating authorities and all available information has been provided,” MAS said in a statement yesterday.

The airline added that it could not provide any further clarification or technical information on the fate of the Boeing 777-200 beyond what was already out in the public domain.

The 15 Chinese nationals arrived at KL International Airport at 10pm on Wednesday to petition the Malaysian authorities to explain why they had declared the MH370 incident as an accident.

“To date, the Government has not discussed with us nor explained what leads them to the declaration,” Voice370, a group of Malaysian MH370 passengers’ next of kin said in a statement.

On Jan 29, Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said the families could now move forward to seek compensation but affirmed that the search for the jetliner, which vanished on March 8 last year, remained a priority.

The declaration that the disappearance of MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was an accident and all 239 passengers and crew were presumed dead was made in accordance with provisions in the Convention on International Civil Aviation.