MH370 With no trace of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 found thus far, aviation lawyers warn that the national carrier is wide open to lawsuits from the relatives of those on board.

Brisbane-based lawyer Joseph Wheeler ( left ) explained that under the Montreal Convention of 1999 (updated in 2009), airlines were strictly liable to damages of up to XDR113,100 (approximately RM575,000).

XDR is a monetary unit commonly used by international organisations and treaties, including the Montreal Convention.

It is based on the value of a mix of major currencies reviewed by the International Monetary Fund every five years, and currently includes the US Dollar, Euro, Japanese Yen, and the British Pound.

To fend off suits claiming damages higher than XDR113,100, according to the convention, MAS will have need to prove in court that the loss of the aircraft was not due to its own negligence, or that a third party was solely responsible for it.

This is where MAS may hit a stumbling block.

"The evidence isn’t there for them to argue that they weren’t at fault. They can’t argue that something else was at fault, like an aircraft component or a terrorist bombing - something that is potentially not in their control.

"We are thinking that families will have that high level of proven loss damage available to them if there is no debris, because MAS hasn't got a chance to prove itself," Wheeler told Malaysiakini in an interview yesterday.

Malaysia is one of the signatories to the Montreal Convention, which spells out liabilities in event of damage or loss of air cargo, baggage, or passengers. On the other hand, crew members are covered by workers' compensation schemes.

Terrorism not a defence

Without the means to defend themselves, Wheeler said, the next-of-kin of the passengers aboard MH370 could be awarded the full amount of whatever sum they can prove as their losses.

The court will consider factors such as loss of income, the deceased's likely future income, loss of support, and how much the next-of-kin are dependent on the deceased.

"It is to the extent of what you can prove that you have lost, so one family may be able to prove a million dollars, another family may be able prove five," said the lawyer from the Australian firm Shine Lawyers.

Wheeler said he is representing the relatives of some of those on board the aircraft, but declined to disclose who or how many, citing client-counsel confidentiality.

Asked about a potential act of terrorism, Wheeler said it could still be argued that MAS and the KL International Airport security should have taken certain steps to prevent this.

Shine Lawyers manager, Patrick Nunan said this approach has been used in suits before, such as those following the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre in New Yorik and the Pentagon in Washington in the United States.

MH370 - a most complex disappearance

Despite arguing that MAS is an easy target, Nunan nevertheless said the MH370 case was extremely complex.

"This is probably the most complex case that I know of in the last 30 to 40 years," he said.

"In that period of time, you have probably the greatest number of serious aircraft crashes. This (MH370) outshines Air France significantly,” he said, referring to Flight 447 that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.

Although it took two years to recover that aircraft's black box, pieces of it had been found much earlier and there were other indications of problems.

"They were able to find debris in a couple of weeks. They knew the location within a couple of days. So even though it took two years to pull the aircraft out, a lot could be done and pieced together, based on the location where the pieces were found," Wheeler said.

Nunan ( right ) added that once a piece of wreckage is found, crash investigators typically go to the extent of drawing out an outline of the aircraft in an hangar, and try to piece it together like a jigsaw puzzle and figure out what had happened.

MAS Flight 370 went missing on March 8 when it was mysteriously diverted from its original flight path to Beijing and is presumed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean.

Despite what has been considered as the largest search operation in aviation history, no wreckage or debris has been found since it vanished almost a month ago. It was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers.