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MH370 families pursue appeal in Beijing, demanding answers 12 years later
🇦🇷 Argentina /Crime & Justice

MH370 families pursue appeal in Beijing, demanding answers 12 years later

From La Nación · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • Families of Chinese passengers on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 are pursuing an appeal in Beijing, seeking answers 12 years after the disappearance.
  • A previous court ruling ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay compensation, but families found the lack of substantive answers and low payouts unsatisfactory.
  • The appeal aims to establish the truth behind the flight's disappearance, with theories ranging from pilot suicide to hijacking or technical failure.

Twelve years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished with 239 people aboard, a Beijing court is hearing an appeal from Chinese families seeking to uncover the truth. The flight disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, becoming one of aviation's most enduring mysteries.

When I saw the first-instance ruling, I felt the court was insulting the passengers' families, mocking us.

— Li EryouA 69-year-old passenger's father, expressing his dissatisfaction with the initial court ruling before entering the courthouse for the appeal hearing.

In December 2025, a Beijing court ordered Malaysia Airlines to pay 2.9 million yuan (about $420,000) to eight Chinese families. However, two families have appealed, deeming the compensation insufficient and, more importantly, finding the court's handling of the case insulting due to the absence of fundamental answers.

In 12 years, nobody has apologized to us. I feel immense rage.

— Li EryouDescribing his feelings about the lack of accountability and answers regarding his son's disappearance on Flight MH370.

"When I saw the first-instance ruling, I felt the court was insulting the passengers' families, mocking us," said Li Eryou, 69, who lost his son on the flight. Li expressed immense anger, stating that after 12 years, no one has apologized. He believes the case was treated as a simple transport accident in China, leading to low compensation compared to international standards.

It is an international matter (...) But the first-instance judge treated it as a simple transport accident in China (...) That is why the amount of compensation is very low.

— Li EryouExplaining his view on why the compensation awarded was inadequate and how the case was perceived to be mishandled domestically.

The appeal's primary goal, according to Jiang Hui, who represents several Chinese families and lost her mother on the flight, is to establish the facts. She criticized the court for not conducting a thorough investigation and for failing to address Malaysia Airlines' inaction since 2014. The families' core demand is not just financial compensation but a definitive explanation for the disappearance, which remains shrouded in theories from pilot suicide and hijacking to missile strikes or an autopilot malfunction.

The main reason for this appeal is that the court (...) did not conduct an exhaustive investigation of the facts, and that it did not point out or criticize Malaysia Airlines' inaction.

— Jiang HuiStating the core objectives of the appeal, focusing on the need for a thorough investigation and accountability for the airline's actions.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by La Nación in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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