Chicago Federal Court orders Boeing to pay more Than $28 Million in 737 MAX Crash Lawsuit.

Boeing has been ordered to pay more than $28 million in damages to the family of a United Nations worker who was killed in Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the flight that crashed between Addis Ababa and Nairobi, which led to the global 737 MAX 8 grounding. The jury in the Chicago federal court awarded the family of Shika Garg, a United Nations environmental worker, up to $35.85 million, the full verdict amount, plus an additional 26% interest.

According to the family’s attorney, Boeing is not planning to appeal the decision. This is the first of a dozen lawsuits that have been filed by family members of those killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash, alongside Lion Air Flight 610. While the vast majority of claims have been settled outside of court, families are still entitled to pursue damages through the court.

Representing the family, Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford noted in a statement, this verdict provides ‘public accountability for Boeing’s wrongful conduct.’ The lawsuit alleged that Boeing knew that the 737 MAX 8 (registration ET-AVJ) was defectively designed, and the American Company opted not to warn passengers about the airplane’s airworthiness and apparent danger.

This accident occurred just five months following the fatal Lion Air crash, which saw more than 180 passengers killed as the plane plummeted into the Java Sea. It was found that the automated flight control system directly contributed to both of these aircraft’s fatal crashes. Thus far, Boeing has paid around 90% of all civil lawsuits related to the Lion and Ethiopian Airlines crashes, resulting in billions of dollars in compensation to the affected families who were killed.

The global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX, which was declared following two incidents, lasted from March 2019 to December 2020. This led to 387 delivered MAX airplanes being grounded, affecting more than 8,600 weekly flights operated by 59 different airlines. The MAX suffered a second brief grounding in January 2024, following the Alaska Airlines Flight 1282, following the door plug incident.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302:

ET302 was a scheduled international flight from Ethiopian Airlines’ home at Addis Ababa Bole International Airport (ADD) to the neighbouring country, Kenya. The flight departed on March 10th, 2019, and was expected to travel south to Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (NBO). The flight had 149 passengers and 06 crew members onboard. The flight crashed into the ground near the town of Bishoftu, just 06 minutes after departure, killing everyone on board. This was the deadliest flight in Ethiopian history to date.

The aircraft, ET-AVJ, had departed from ADD at 08:38 local time, 44 seconds after takeoff, when the main gear lifted off the runway, but a sensor on the left side of the aircraft’s nose sustained damage that was believed to have occurred from a bird strike. This caused the aircraft to receive faulty sensor readings, prompting the MCAS (Maneuvering characteristics augmentation system) to falsely detect that the aircraft was in an imminent stall and command the aircraft’s nose to be pushed downwards.

The autopilot was disengaged around a minute after takeoff, and the aircraft continued to descend following a flap retraction. The captain and co-pilot struggled to be able to manually adjust the aircraft’s stabilizers, and on its final attempt to regain control of the airplane, the MCAS re-engaged again, pitching the aircraft into a fatal dive, eventually crashing into the ground, which led to all crew and passengers being killed.

Lion Air Flight 610:

JT610, was a domestic flight from Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International, Tangerang (CGK) to Depati Amir Airport, Pangkal Pinang (PGK), Indonesia. The flight departed on October 29th, 2018, carrying 181 passengers and 08 crew members. The flight crashed into the Java Sea only 13 minutes after the flight had taken off, marking the first major accident and subsequent full hull loss of the newly introduced 737 MAX aircraft variant.

An investigation into the flight revealed that the aircraft had a faulty angle of attack sensor, which was triggered by the MCAS software. This caused the airplane’s nose to be pushed down, resulting in the airplane crashing into the Java Sea.

The Indonesian Government had deployed a search and rescue team, where aircraft debris and human remains were found across a 150 nautical mile (280 kilometre) wide search area. The first victim was only located and identified after two days following the crash.

Team Maverick