Boeing on Wednesday reached an agreement with families of the 2019 Ethiopia 737 MAX crash victims, according to a filing in U.S. District Court in Chicago, reported Reuters. A total of 157 people lost their lives in the crash.
As per the court documents, Boeing has accepted responsibility for Ethiopian Airways flight 302 losing control soon after it took off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. The plane crashed into a nearby town, killing all the passengers on board.
It was the second crash to involve a Boeing 737-MAX aircraft in six months. In October 2018, 189 people lost their lives months in another crash of a 737 Max in Indonesia.
After the crash, the United States authorities had imposed a global ban on the use of the 737-MAX aircraft until the aircraft maker could fix the plane’s faulty software.
According to the settlement papers, Boeing blamed its software for ET 302’s loss of control and destruction. It admitted that the 737-MAX was in an unsafe condition to fly. The company rectified the 737-MAX aircraft to resume flying again earlier this year.
Under the settlement deal, the airplane maker has agreed to take responsibility for compensatory damages to the victims’ families. The families have also agreed not to seek punitive damages from Boeing, which they were unlikely to have won.
The airplane maker company has agreed not to try to have cases moved if families filed lawsuits for compensatory damages in Illinois.
“This is a significant milestone for the families in their pursuit of justice against Boeing, as it will ensure they are all treated equitably and eligible to recover full damages under Illinois law while creating a pathway for them to proceed to a final resolution, whether through settlements or trial,” said Robert Clifford, Steven Marks, and Justin Green, the lead attorneys representing the victims, in a statement.
