The first civil trial pertaining to the Boeing plane crash in Ethiopia is scheduled to start in the United States, six years after the tragic incident that claimed the lives of all 157 individuals on board. Boeing has settled the majority of wrongful death lawsuits filed by the victims’ families, with only a few cases remaining, for which a federal court jury was chosen on Tuesday.
Attorneys representing the families and the American aircraft manufacturer were set to present their opening statements on Wednesday in a Chicago court. The trial will not focus on determining the company’s liability, as Boeing has already acknowledged responsibility for the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 disaster in 2019, as well as the 737 Max crash in Indonesia that occurred five months earlier, resulting in the deaths of 189 passengers and crew.
The eight-person jury’s task is to determine the appropriate compensation that Boeing should provide to the families of Mercy Ndivo, a 28-year-old mother from Kenya, and 36-year-old United Nations consultant Shikha Garg from India. Both women were among the passengers boarding a Boeing 737 Max jetliner bound for Nairobi from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019, which tragically crashed shortly after take-off, with no survivors.
Boeing expressed deep regret to the families of the 346 individuals who perished in both crashes, affirming their commitment to fully compensate the families and accepting legal responsibility for the accidents. The cases under scrutiny this week were part of a larger group of five that were potentially set for trial but only two could proceed due to the US government shutdown.
Chicago lawyer Robert Clifford, whose firm represents many of the victims’ families, including Ndivo’s parents, disclosed that efforts to reach a pre-trial settlement via mediation had been unsuccessful in recent months. A settlement outside of court is still possible for one or both cases currently in trial at any stage.
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