Boeing once again escapes a civil lawsuit linked to the 2019 crushing

The American aeronautical manufacturer Boeing again escaped in extremis at a civilian trial in civilian linked to the crushing of a 737 Max 8 of Ethiopian Airlines in March 2019. Furthermore, by reaching an agreement before the latter’s start, scheduled for Monday, said a law firm.

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“The complaint was settled by an agreement, for a confidential amount,” said a spokesperson for the firm Clifford Law, who represented the complainant, Paul Njoroge.

The announcement was made to judge Jorge Alonso-who sits in a Federal Court of Chicago (Illinois). Moreover, who centralizes all the civil complaints filed following this accident-during a preparation boeing once again escapes civil hearing at the trial held on Friday afternoon.

“The team of Clifford Law specializing in aviation worked day. For example, night to prepare the trial, but the mediator was able to help the parties to find an agreement on behalf of Paul Njoroge,” Robert Clifford, senior lawyer, quoted in a press release later.

On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737 Max 8 performing the Et302 flight from Ethiopian Airlines between Addis Abeba and Nairobi crashed south-east of the Ethiopian capital six minutes after takeoff, killing the boeing once again escapes civil 157 people on board.

Among them. Meanwhile, the family of the Canadian Paul Njoroge: his wife Carolyne (33), his children Ryan (6 years old), Kellie (4 years old) and Rubi (9 months) as well as his mother-in-law, Ann Karanja, who traveled from Toronto to Nairobi.

“I stay awake at night thinking about the horror they had to endure. ” said Paul Njoroge before an American parliamentary committee in July 2019.

“While the pilots were fighting for six minutes to keep the plane in the air. the terror that my wife had to live with the little Rubi on her lap, our two children next to it calling their dad, and my mother-in-law feeling useless next to her. These six minutes are forever engraved in my mind, “he added.

Popular jury

“The children had not seen their two grandfathers. a grandmother for almost two years,” said Njoroge, a financial analyst at boeing once again escapes civil the time of crushing, an activity he never resumed.

He created a foundation in 2021. in tribute to his children, which provides funding and support for schools and students in Kenya, Ethiopia and Canada. It also finances the construction of a memorial in their honor.

The trial was to last five to seven days before eight jurors.

These trials are simply intended to determine the amount of compensation for relatives.

Relatives of 155 victims filed an appeal against Boeing between April 2019 and March 2021 for unjustified and boeing once again escapes civil negligence, among others.

To simplify the procedure. judge Alonso constituted groups of five to six complaints and set a date of trial for each group. If all the complaints of a group lead to an amicable agreement, the trial is canceled.

But. faced with the exceptional case of Paul Njoroge, who lost his whole family, only his complaint was listed on the trial program scheduled for Monday.

According to Clifford, an audience set on Wednesday must notably program complaints for the next private trial on November 3.

Boeing has so far succeeded in avoiding any trial by reaching, sometimes in extremis, to out -of -court agreements.

The aircraft manufacturer accepted the responsibility of this accident, because “the design of the [logiciel antidécrochage] McAS contributed to these events ”.

This software is also involved in the accident of a 737 max 8 of the Indonesian company Lion Air which crashed at sea on October 29. 2018, ten minutes after taking off from Jakarta, killing 189 people.

Several dozen civil complaints were filed in the United States after this accident. According to a judicial source, only one was open on Friday.

According to the aircraft manufacturer. more than 90% of civil complaints linked to the two crushes led to out -of -court agreements.

He specifies that he had paid “several billion dollars”. in addition to the sums allocated during criminal proceedings before a federal court of Fort Worth (Texas).

In boeing once again escapes civil this component. relating to the two accidents, Boeing and the Ministry of Justice await the decision of judge Reed O’Connor to validate or not the agreement to definitively end the proceedings announced on May 23. This is the third that has been submitted to him since 2021.