Friday, 18 July 2014 - 14:39
Malaysia Airlines sends grief team to Amsterdam
Following the missile strike and subsequent crash of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, the Airline is now focusing on working with emergency responders and authorities. Full support will be given to the on-going investigations, the airline said in a statement, and the company has deployed a "Go Team" of caregivers and volunteers to Amsterdam's Schiphol airport to assist family members.
The flight left Amsterdam at 12:15 p.m. Thursday afternoon en route to Kuala Lumpur. It was shot down hours later over eastern Ukraine, the scene of ongoing clashes between pro-Russian separatists and Ukranian nationalists.
However, at Kuala Lumpur International airport on Thursday night, relatives demanded to see the passenger manifest, but could not find a Malaysia Airlines official, Reuters reported. "We have been waiting for four hours. We found out the news from international media," a young man told reporters. "Facebook is more efficient than MAS. It's so funny, they are a laughing stock."
The airline was heavily criticized by family members of passengers onboard flight 370, which is believed to have crashed on March 8, 2014. The flight took off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.
A Malaysia Airlines spokesman said the response has been handled in-house by a team trained in crisis communications and led by the CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.
Malaysia Airlines is still reeling from the disappearance of MH370 in March when news of the crash in Ukraine broke. Shares in the carrier fell sharply on Friday, down 11% by the midday break in trading in Kuala Lumpur.
Family and friends of those onboard the plane have been asked to contact the airline at +603 7884 1234 in Malaysia, or +31 70 348 7770 in the Netherlands.