Twelve years after MH370's disappearance, families of Chinese passengers say the truth remains more important than financial compensation.
The courthouse where relatives of passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have a hearing in Beijing on July 28, 2026. Picture: Adek Berr / AFP
Relatives of Chinese passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which went missing 12 years ago in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries, showed up at a Beijing court on Tuesday to demand answers.
The court began hearing their appeal against an earlier ruling to order compensation, which the families say disregarded crucial questions.
The Boeing 777 carrying 239 people — two-thirds of them Chinese — vanished from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Despite multiple searches, including the largest in aviation history, the aircraft, passengers or black boxes have never been found.
A court in Beijing ordered Malaysia Airlines in December to pay eight families of Chinese passengers 2.9 million yuan ($410 000) each.
Frustrated by what they say is a lack of substantive answers about their tragedy, two families have lodged an appeal.
“When I received the judgement and read the first-instance ruling, my first thought was that the court was insulting the families of the passengers, that it was mocking us,” Li Eryou, 69, whose son was on the flight, told AFP outside the court on Tuesday.
The hearing was closed to the media.
Looking for the truth
“In 12 years, no one has ever apologised to us. I feel immense anger,” he said.
“This is an international case… but the first-instance judge treated it like nothing more than an ordinary local traffic accident, which is why the compensation amount ended up being so pitifully small.”
Experts have put forward several theories over the years to explain the mysterious disappearance, from pilot suicide or hijacking to missile fire or a technical malfunction.
According to one theory, a fire could have broken out in electronic components, which produced smoke that filled the plane and led to the passengers and crew falling unconscious.
The plane then continued on autopilot over the Indian Ocean, where search efforts have been focused, before running out of fuel and crashing, the theory goes.
“The main reason why some families are appealing is that the first-instance court did not clearly establish the facts of the case, nor did it criticise or correct Malaysia Airlines’ inaction” since 2014, said Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the plane.
The court had “merely ruled on the amount of compensation, which is not everything we, the families, are looking for”, he told AFP.
“What matters to us is the establishment of the facts. That’s our biggest demand.”
Search extended
Nationals of 14 countries were on board the flight, including 50 passengers and crew members from Malaysia, where there were no pending cases against the airline.
Malaysia announced last month that the search for flight MH370 will be extended through June 2027, an operation led by private firm Ocean Infinity.
The most recent search took place in two stages, beginning in March 2025, but the firm returned empty-handed.
Jiang Hui said he was thankful to the Malaysian authorities for the extension, and asked that families be allowed to organise their own search missions.
“The plane isn’t going to rise to the surface all on its own,” he said.
“Only by searching would we be able to find it.”
