Court: Malaysia Airlines Owes $3.3M to 8 MH370 Families

A Chinese court has ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay more than $410,000 each to the families of eight Chinese passengers who vanished aboard Flight MH370 more than a decade ago. The ruling, delivered Friday by Beijing's Chaoyang District People's Court, is the first formal Chinese compensation judgment related to the 2014 disappearance, which remains one of aviation's greatest mysteries. A $410,000 payment is to be applied to each of eight cases involving the passengers, per Reuters. The payment covers death compensation, funeral costs, and damages for emotional suffering, reports the South China Morning Post.

Flight MH370 disappeared from radar less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing, with 239 people on board. The majority of the 227 passengers were Chinese nationals. Malaysia Airlines has been negotiating with families for years. The families of 75 Chinese passengers have filed 78 lawsuits in China since 2016. Forty-seven cases were settled through mediation, according to state broadcaster CCTV, but 23 remain unresolved. The airline has not yet responded to the compensation order. Meanwhile, a fresh search for the missing plane is about to begin.