> The standard payment for plane crash victims is $170,000 per passenger according to the Montreal Convention. http://time.com/3763541/germanwings-plane-crash-s

> The standard payment for plane crash victims is $170,000 per passenger according to the Montreal Convention. http://time.com/3763541/germanwings-plane-crash-settlement http://time.com/3763541/germanwings-plane-crash-settlement The source you quoted makes it clear that the $170,000 is a lower bound -- a minimum payment that the families are guaranteed by the convention -- but on average the families get much more, and in fact, the average settlements in the U.S. (estimated $4.5 million) are even higher than the figure I used ($1.8 million). But OK, the article also has a chart that says payments in Malaysia average $600,000, and since MH370 is a Malaysian flight, then that is what I should have used.