The widow of a Melbourne-based Chinese businessman who was a passenger on downed flight MH370 is demanding a six-figure payout from Malaysia Airlines, claiming the crew may have orchestrated its mysterious disappearance.
Jennifer Chong has launched civil action against the airline, seeking 115,000 U.S. dollars for the unexplained death of her husband, Chong Ling Tan.
Almost two years after the tragedy, Chong plans to sue the airline in Australia's Supreme Court, after filing a statement of claim late on Wednesday.
In the legal documents, published in part by News Corp on Thursday, Chong has alleged that Malaysia Airlines should be accountable for the actions of their crew.
"By reason of the breach of duty of care, the defendant's aircraft disappeared and is presumed to have crashed, causing the death of the deceased and consequent loss and damage to the first plaintiff, the children of the deceased and other dependants," Chong said in the documents submitted to the court.
Chong, who immigrated to Australia from Malaysia with her husband in 2011, claims that the crew failed in their duty to ensure the flight landed safely. She is reportedly seeking the payout for pain and suffering she and her two sons have endured as a result of losing a loved one in the aviation disaster.
Within the documents, Chong also asserts that a crew member, or potentially crew members, may have "deliberately altered the course of the aircraft resulting in its loss at sea".
The Boeing 777, travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was carrying 239 people (227 passengers, 12 crew) when it went missing on March 8, 2014.
The Malaysian government, which owns the carrier, officially confirmed that there were no survivors in January 2015.
A flaperon of that washed ashore on Reunion Island in July last year, which was later confirmed as belonging to MH370 by French investigators, is the only definitive piece of evidence that the plane crash landed.
The Australian search for missing flight in the southern Indian Ocean is nearing its end, with the team having found no trace of the plane despite scouring around 85,000 square kilometers of the 120,000-square-kilometer search area.
Malaysia Airlines on Wednesday reiterated its commitment of "fair and equitable compensation" to the families of those on board the missing flight MH370.
