Anne Barker – In a rare move, Lion Air has agreed to foot the bill for a new, more advanced search to find the cockpit voice recorder from its 737 Max-8 plane that crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189 people.

The airline will reportedly pay nearly $US3 million ($4.2 million) to deploy a specialised ship for 10 days, beginning next week, to search a section of the sea floor under huge oil pipes, where the main fuselage is believed to be buried in mud.

It was revealed this week that Indonesian authorities lacked the funds to carry out a more sophisticated search.

Less than half of the Lion Air wreckage has been recovered. But families of the dead are angry that the search for remaining bodies of victims has been abandoned. Some want Boeing, the plane's manufacturer, to take over the search instead.

It is understood only 125 bodies have been recovered and identified. Another 64 bodies are still unaccounted for, more than six weeks after the crash.

A US lawyer representing two relatives – who are already suing Boeing – has sent a strongly worded letter demanding the company take over the search for the remaining victims and missing fuselage.

Californian lawyer Brian Kabateck said the aircraft manufacturer "owes it to the families of passengers" to retrieve the bodies "without further delay".

"The dignity of the passengers and their families including their religious beliefs require immediate recovery of the bodies," he wrote. "This is a matter of moral and ethical duty Boeing has, if not legal and judicial [duty]."

Mr Kabateck also accused Boeing of being more interested in "exculpating" itself from potential liability than helping the families of those still missing.

"You are apparently willing to expend great sums of money to obtain certain parts of the aircraft at issue (or parts of the aircraft which you wish to obtain for purpose [sic] of attempted exculpation), but not to spend money attempting to obtain the bodies of passengers on Flight 610," he wrote."We beseech you to direct your attention to obtaining the bodies of those passengers immediately and to keep the families of those passengers in your minds as you proceed."

One of the two women represented by Mr Kabateck, Dayinta Dyah Anggana, said her own mother who died in the crash had been recovered and buried. But she feels for the relatives of other victims.

"Our family is still grieving especially as we had to let go without a funeral procession, which is the culture in Indonesia," she said. "I'm also sad when I think about the feelings of other victims' families who still haven't found their remains.

"I'm also convinced that Boeing has the resources and funds to continue with the search, so why don't they want to help?"

One man, Anton Sahadi, lost two cousins in the doomed flight. Muhammad Ravi Andrian and Riyan Aryandi, both 24, were returning home to Pangkal Pinang after a weekend in Jakarta when the plane crashed. Only Mr Ravi Andrian's body has been recovered and identified.

Mr Sahadi was among more than 20 relatives who staged a protest yesterday outside Indonesia's Presidential Palace, demanding a new search to find the remaining victims' bodies.

"We believe that our relatives – 64 of them – are still underwater, buried in the mud," he said. "We believe that they are all still there. So if they conduct another search they will find them."

Indonesia lacks 'further funds' to continue search

Indonesian authorities ended the search for victims' remains weeks ago, but continued searching for the plane's cockpit voice recorder, without success. It was revealed this week that funding problems and bureaucratic wrangling had since hampered that search.

Investigators in Jakarta said that budgetary constraints had limited efforts to raise the main fuselage and find the cockpit voice recorder, which would shed new light on what caused the crash.

Now Lion Air has agreed to pick up the bill for a more advanced search, beginning on Monday, raising questions about the ongoing investigation's independence.

United Nations rules stipulate such a search and investigation should be done independently of parties such as an airline.

Mr Kabateck said given such questions, it was imperative that Boeing – rather than Lion Air – step in to find and preserve not only the victims' remains, but the aircraft itself.

"It is not appropriate merely to obtain parts of that aircraft which you hope to use to exculpate you from any potential liability," Mr Kabateck said.

"Accordingly, we request that you immediately take steps to retrieve the entirety of the subject aircraft. Plaintiffs are owed, and require, the entirety of such aircraft in order to conduct a full and fair investigation in support of their claims as well as to determine, to the fullest extent possible, the exact cause of their loved ones' deaths."

Boeing has rejected suggestions it has any responsibility to take over the search for the plane or the bodies of victims.

"The Indonesian authorities are solely responsible for the investigation, including control over the aircraft wreckage and any examination of that wreckage, as well as the search for the aircraft and for those on board," Mack H Shultz said in a letter sent to Mr Kabateck this week.

"Boeing is cooperating fully with those efforts, but any requests concerning the investigation, the airplane wreckage, or search efforts should be directed to the Indonesian authorities."Law firms jostle to represent families against Boeing

The latest demands on Boeing come as up to eight US law firms jostle to represent the relatives of victims in separate lawsuits against the company, alleging the aircraft maker is to blame for defects in the plane that caused the crash.

Lawyers from two separate firms in Chicago, Ribbeck and Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona, have been in Jakarta this week meeting families interested in joining litigation against Boeing.

Lawyer Manuel von Ribbeck claims that relatives of at least 25 Lion Air victims have signed on to a potential $US100 million ($138 million) class action against the company. Claims have already been lodged in the Circuit Court of Cook County.

Meanwhile Thomas Gardiner, a partner at Gardiner Koch Weisberg & Wrona, was negotiating with the brother and sister of the co-pilot Harvino, about a separate lawsuit.

Mr von Ribbeck said Lion Air – via its insurance company – had offered relatives a flat compensation payout equivalent to $119,000, which he said was vastly less than similar payouts made after similar plane crashes in the US or Europe.

He said a handful of people had accepted the offer, but in doing so had lost their right to sue Boeing for a much higher payout should a court rule in their favour.

"Obviously the insurance company tries to pay as little as possible, and we try to ask the juries for the highest amount possible for them," Mr von Ribbeck said.

Another two US law firms, Colson Hicks Eidson and BartlettChen, have lodged a joint lawsuit on behalf of another victim's family. Yet another Chicago-based firm, Wisner Law, claims to represent several more families in a separate suit against Boeing.

Its website warns relatives to be wary of "unethical attorneys" actively soliciting families. It says such actions violate "a US federal statute which prohibits all contact with the families within 45 days of the crash".

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-14/lion-air-to-foot-bill-for-new-search-for-flight-610/10618676