The papers were submitted on July 5, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report, that is just 10 days before the deadline for compensation claims.
Lawyer Michael Hyland, of Sydney-based LHD Lawyers, who is acting for Gibson, said the two-tier claim was brought under the terms of the Montreal Convention 1999.
“Under the first tier, the claimant does not need to establish negligence against Malaysia Airlines, but must establish both that their relative was killed and that they were, to some extent, financially dependent on them.”
The maximum compensation is AUD220,000 per person.
Under the second tier, negligence of the carrier being the critical issue, the payout could be larger since the case is open-ended.
The brief statement of facts, eight pages in all, showed that on July 17, 2014, “Flight MH17 followed its planned chosen route, airway L980, across Ukraine”.
“On or about the same date, MH17 was shot down in the airspace over the war zone. The flight disintegration of MH17 was the result of the detonation of a warhead.”
In an additional claim, families of the Australian victims involved in the class action suit are seeking AUD10 million in compensation per person in what could be “one of the largest payouts in aviation history”.
The claim, also served by LHD Lawyers, was lodged in May at the European Court of Human Rights. It blames the Russians. The proposed respondents are the Russian Federation and President Vladimir Putin.
The case cites a precedent where Russia offered USD50 million in reward in the wake of a terrorist downing of an Egyptian plane. The attack killed a large number of Russian passengers in the Sinai.
The other MH17 families are not named in the European case.
Gibson said that she had no choice but to take legal action. Her mother, Liliane Derden, was on MH17, flying from Amsterdam to Perth via Kuala Lumpur to visit her and her granddaughter Ella, who was then two and a half years.
“She was so excited to help me move in,” said Gibson. “We were planning on decorating by painting and furnishing my new place.
“She wanted to make the house a warm, inviting one for Ella and me.”
The legal action against the airline, she admitted, had brought
unnecessary stress and anxiety to her family. She has a sister, Chelsea, in Canberra.
“It’s upsetting when you have to come to this,” she stressed.
“When you are trying to grieve for your loved one who has been wrongly taken away from you, then have to fight another battle to prove their life’s worth, it really tests your emotions.”
Gibson said that she was shocked at the way Malaysia Airlines has reacted to the MH17 tragedy.
She attributes the tragedy to the airline ignoring risk management procedures just to save on fuel costs.
“It’s scary to know that they still carry people’s lives in their hands.”