Expired beacon battery on MH370 could be key for compensation

The disclosure that an underwater locator beacon battery in the flight data recorder of MH370 had expired could be key in legal action against Malaysia Airlines over the fruitless search for the jetliner, lawyers for families of the passengers said on Monday. U.S. law firm Kreindler & Kreindler LP, which is representing around 20 families, said the expired battery was “potentially very significant” in determining compensation if it had hurt the search for the missing plane. A 584-page interim report into the disappearance of the Boeing 777-200ER said the beacon battery for the flight data recorder had expired in December 2012 and was not replaced.

This airline, which allowed its crew and plane to fly with expired batteries on critical equipment, continues to reject offering any kind of meaningful settlement to the families without them first proving the losses they suffered, without any actual evidence of a crash.

Kreindler & Kreindler LP aviation attorney Justin Green

In January, Malaysia Airlines officially declared the disappearance of MH370 an accident, clearing the way for the airline to pay compensation to victims’ relatives while the search for the plane goes on. Investigators believe the plane, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, was flown thousands of miles off course before eventually crashing into the ocean off Australia. The search along a rugged 60,000 sq km patch of sea floor some 1,600 km west of the Australian city of Perth has found nothing so far.

The disappearance of MH370 is without precedent, and so too is the search - by far the most complex and technically challenging in aviation history.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak

World MH370