Kathmandu. A federal court in Chicago has ordered Boeing to pay more than $35.8 million in damages to the families of the plane crashes.
The United Nations Environment Workers (UNEAs) have been awarded $28 million in damages and 26 per cent in interest to the families of those killed in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 Max jet in Ethiopia. According to legal advisers for the victims’ families, Boeing will no longer appeal the court order.
The court’s order on Wednesday to seek compensation for Shikha Garg’s family is the first of dozens of lawsuits filed seeking compensation after the accident, reports niyakundireport.com. In 2018, another Boeing jet crashed in Indonesia, killing 346 people.
Shaneen Spector and Elizabeth Crawford, who represent the family, said in a statement that the verdict “establishes public accountability for Boeing’s misconduct.” “
Garg was 32 when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed minutes after takeoff.
The lawsuit seeking damages against Boeing alleges that Boeing’s 737 MAX aircraft was poorly designed and that Boeing failed to warn passengers and the public about its risks.
The crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight comes five months after Lion Air Flight 610 crashed in the Java Sea in Indonesia in 2018. The investigation team concluded that the crashes occurred due to the failure of the automated flight control system in both the crashes.
The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 exposed one of the biggest institutional scandals in aviation history. Investigations by the US Congress and international regulators found that Boeing had submitted false facts and evidence to the Federal Aviation Authority during the certification of the 737 Max.
Repeated fines but still continuing:
In September alone, the US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) fined Boeing $3.13 billion for safety violations from September 2023 to February 2024. This includes actions related to January 5, 2024, the cracking of doors, and interference with the independence of security officers.
Earlier in 2021, the company had to pay a $2.5 billion fine to settle criminal charges related to fraud to the Federal Aviation Authority.
