Boeing Reaches Settlements in Ethiopian Airlines Crash Lawsuits

Boeing has settled lawsuits with families of victims from the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash involving a 737 MAX. The accidents also involved Lion Air Flight 610 and resulted in 346 deaths. Settlements remain confidential, and Boeing has faced significant financial repercussions.

Boeing has reached settlements in three lawsuits filed by the families of victims of the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash, according to the families' attorney on Wednesday. A jury had already been assembled for one of the cases in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, though the specific terms of these settlements have not been disclosed.

Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comments on the settlements. The Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 tragedy occurred less than half a year after a similar incident involving Lion Air Flight 610, also a 737 MAX, which crashed into the Java Sea. Both crashes were linked to an automated flight control system malfunction, causing a total of 346 fatalities.

With this latest development, the U.S. aerospace company has resolved over 90% of the multiple civil lawsuits stemming from these accidents, disbursing billions in settlement payouts, deferred prosecution, and various other financial agreements, as the firm previously reported to Reuters. The victims included Mercy Ngami Ndivo, Abdul Jalil Qaid Ghazi Hussein, and Nasrudin Mohammed, all having Kenyan connections, were represented by attorney Robert Clifford. Boeing has suffered more than $20 billion in losses due to the twin accidents, which led to a 20-month grounding of its leading jet.

(With inputs from agencies.)