US lawsuit blames Boeing for MH370 disappearance

A series of catastrophic electrical and other failures may have led to the crash of MH370 according to a US lawsuit.

Australian Transport Safety Board (ATSB) officials inspect a large piece of debris found in Tanzania which has been confirmed as a part of a wing flap from missing MH370. Picture: AFP.

A series of catastrophic electrical and other failures may have led to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 over the Indian Ocean, according to a lawsuit filed in the US.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the families of 44 people on board the still missing plane, names seven malfunctions.

They include an electrical fire and depressurisation of the plane’s cabin that could have led to the crew losing consciousness, the plane’s transponder stopping its transmission and the plane flying undetected until it crashed after running out of fuel.

The suit was filed against Boeing in US District Court in South Carolina, because the aircraft manufacturer has built a new plant in the state to produce the 787 Dreamliner.

Boeing doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits, but the company’s thoughts continue to be with the people who died on MH370, Boeing spokesman Tom Kim said in a statement.

The jet disappeared March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

Malaysia, Australia and China suspended a nearly three-year search in the southern Indian Ocean on January 17 after failing to find any trace of the plane.

The lawsuit notes that search efforts for the plane have ended and says the lack of finality has led to unprecedented levels of “economic and non-economic losses, emotional and physical pain, distress and mental pain and suffering” for the people on the airliner and their families.

Boeing also didn’t use available technology on its 777 planes that would have allowed them to be tracked at all times and made the flight and cockpit voice recorders easier to find, the lawsuit says.

Boeing knew of design flaws on the aircraft, including defective wiring near combustible sources like the emergency oxygen supply to the plane’s crew, it says.

AP