MAS ‘abandons’ families of MH370 crew who seek legal help

Families of the crew on board the lost MH370 crew say Malaysia Airlines has "abandoned" them because they have sought the help of a foreign law firm.

The families of seven of the 12 crew members said today the national carrier sent an email to them two days ago asking them to get their lawyers to deal with the airlines legal team for all requests related to the passenger jet that vanished mysteriously on March 8. The plane has yet to be found

The latest email came more than a week after their caregivers were instructed to stop contacting them, said Jacquita Gonzales, wife of inflight supervisor Patrick Francis Gomes.

“We do not know what happened. But when I did not hear anything from my caregiver, whom I considered as my close friend, for two days, I made a call to him.

"That was when he told me that they had been asked to stop contacting the crew’s families,” Gonzales told a press conference in Subang Jaya, Selangor.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER with 227 passengers and 12 crew was on its way to Beijing when it vanished over the South China Sea.

Malaysian military radar tracked it turning back towards the west until it went out of the coverage area in the Andaman Sea.

Also present were the families of Tan Size Yang, Andrew Nari, Foong Wei Yueng and Tan Ser Kuin.

The representative of two other crew members were not present as they were away on work.

Gonzales in the press conference added the caregivers were the families’ lifeline.

“Their roles are very important. They were there to feed us updates on the search and rescue mission carried out in finding the missing jet. They are also our support system, a shoulder to cry on. They were the ones we sought help with during our ups and downs and now they have been taken away from us. It feels like it's a form of punishment,” said Gonzales.

She said this happened after the airlines got wind that the families of the seven had hired a legal advisor.

“We do not know how they know and obtained the documents, but we only wanted advice when it came to things that we did not understand. I am a lay person. I do not understand legal jargon. I do not know how to read between the lines. I have my children to take care of. So the best person I can refer to is a lawyer.

"This does not mean they can take away our caregivers. I am sure caregivers know what to talk about and not.

"We do not have to talk about compensation. But the compassion extended and the emotional support have been taken away from us while we still need them,” said Gonzales.

She said that the families were left in the dark after May 8 as they no longer received updates from caregivers.

“I had no problem with MAS before. They have been there for us. We never said anything because our welfare was being taken care of. But now it feels like they abandoned us,” she said.

Lee Khim Fatt, husband of stewardess Foong Wai Yueng said MAS had broken its promises.

“They said we were family. But look what they have done. They took away the assistance and support from us. They are making things difficult,” he said.

He said the families felt like MAS was trying to make things hard by imposing that all requests be made through lawyers.

“Now the smallest thing like a request for a flight ticket will also have to go through lawyers, including details and updates on the search and rescue effort,” he said.

As far he and the rest of the families of the crew members of MN370 are concerned, their spouses are still MAS employees.

The families, however, felt relief when they read Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein’s interview published in the media today in which he reminded MAS of its responsibility in caring for the families of the crew members.

“He has addressed several of our concerns. At least someone does not forget about us. We thank him for that,” said Lee.

Kelvin Shim, the husband of stewardess Tan Ser Kui echoed the same sentiment.

Shim and the rest said they had not heard any news on compensation after MAS announced that an advance will be paid out to the next of kin of people on board MH370.

“The families of the seven have not heard of it. We were told that those who have not hired lawyers received a call for a meeting to talk about the compensation.

"The meeting was later called o, but we never received any calls at all on that matter,” said Shim adding that the families sought legal advice from chicago based law firm Ribbeck Law Chartered.

Hishammuddin in an interview with the local media published today said MAS should be reminded that they should ensure that compensation payment is made as soon as possible.And the efforts to comfort family members must continue.

He also said: ” I believe that we must give confidence and support to all MAS employees because not only are they fellow Malaysians, but they are also innocent. Every MAS employee that I have met over the past few weeks has thanked me and my team for standing by them.”

He added that MAS also must pay close attention to the needs of the next of kin.

Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein had said on Thursday that all air and surface searches had been suspended and the focus would now be on undersea operations after earlier searches failed to locate the missing plane..

He had said that the search would now have three main priorities – re-analysis of all data; extensive mapping; and analysis of seabed and asset deployment.

A recently held multilateral meeting between the three nations confirmed that Australia would be heading the endeavour, in consultation with Malaysia.

Putrajaya had been heavily criticised by the international media and family members of passengers and crew who were on board the plane over its handling of the search effort.

A five-page preliminary report had raised more questions on the plane's disappearance – May 18, 2014.