737 Max crash in Ethiopia | Boeing will provide compensation to the families of the victims

“Boeing is committed to ensuring that all families who have lost loved ones in accidents are fully and fairly compensated,” AFP demanded.

“Recognizing its responsibility, Boeing’s agreement with the families allows the parties to focus their efforts on determining the appropriate compensation for each family.”

Flight 302 to Nairobi, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed in a field southeast of the capital, Addis Ababa, six minutes after takeoff due to malware.

The crash landed the 737 MAX models, and caused the worst crisis in U.S. aircraft manufacturer history, followed by another crash a few months later, in October 2018 when a Lion Air plane crashed in Indonesia (189 people died).

Senior advocates for the families called the deal “historic” and “a milestone for loved ones in the search for justice against Boeing.”

“He will allow them all to be treated fairly […] By paving the way for final decisions through contracts or lawsuits, ”said Robert Clifford, Steven Marks and Justin Green in a statement.

No amount was mentioned in the documents filed Wednesday, but the families of the victims could take action to seek compensation in U.S. courts. The 157 victims were from 35 different countries.

Still “at least two years”

A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday in Chicago to confirm the preliminary agreement.

Then there will be mediation. But if they fail, according to Chicago, Illinois state law, every family can damage their case to an arbitral tribunal.

“These are substantial cases that may take at least two years to resolve more easily,” said attorney Robert Clifford.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of all those killed on the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302,” a Boeing spokesman said Wednesday.

“After the crash, Boeing and the 737 made significant changes to the Max’s design to ensure that such crashes did not happen again.”

The 737 MAX, the new version of the legendary Medium voyage released in 1967, tarnished the aircraft manufacturer’s reputation and cost billions of dollars.

In January, in particular, Boeing agreed to pay more than $ 2.5 billion to settle some cases. The aeronautical company admitted that two of its employees had misled the FAA, the air traffic controller in the United States.

During the two incidents, the flight control software MCAS, which was supposed to prevent the plane from landing under the nose, operated wildly based on false information sent by one of the plane’s two probes.

The plane landed for twenty months, before gaining recognition to fly around the world gradually from the end of 2020 onwards. Companies have re-launched more than 200 aircraft of this type.