MAS settles with Aussie family over MH17

PETALING JAYA: Close to three years after the downing of MH17, Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has reached a settlement with an Australian family that lost four of its family members who were on the ill-fated flight.
Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris withdrew their lawsuit, and are the first Australian family to reach a settlement with the airline.
MAS and Colin Biggers & Paisley, the lawfirm which represented the family and filed the lawsuit against the airline, confirmed the matter had been resolved.
"MAS confirms that it has reached an amicable and confidential settlement with the Maslin family and therefore the suit has been withdrawn," MAS said in a statement today.
Maslin and Norris from Perth lost three children, Mo, 12; Evie, 10; and Otis, 8, and Norris' father, Nick Norris, during the fatal crash.
"MAS will not however disclose any further details on this suit or the details of the settlement in respect to the privacy of the family.
"Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families and friends affected," the statement added.
The children's parents Maslin and Norris had claimed they suffered nervous shock as well as depressive and psychiatric illnesses that required counselling, treatment and medication and that they learned they had lost their family from news reports, following their loss.
The airlines, however said that the settlement was "not tantamount to an admission of liability of guilt".
"Malaysia Airlines was flying over an unrestricted airspace and was compliant of all applicable regulatory requirements in preparing and operating its flight as confirmed by the Dutch Safety Board in its final report into the crash of MH17," it said.
The MAS' Boeing 777 aircraft was shot down with a Buk surface-to-air missile while cruising at an altitude of 30,000ft over eastern Ukraine near the Russian border on July 17, 2015, killing all 298 people on board.
MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew, when it was shot around 20 miles before entering Russian airspace.
The plane had taken off from Amsterdam at 6.30pm Malaysian time and had been scheduled to arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). However, MAS lost contact with the plane at 9.20pm that night.