Boeing settles with families of three 737 Max crash victims

Boeing has reached settlements in three lawsuits brought by the families of victims who died in the March 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max, the attorney representing the families announced Wednesday, 5 November.

A Boeing logo is seen before the opening of the 55th International Paris Airshow at Le Bourget Airport near Paris, France, 13 June 2025. Reuters/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

A jury had already been selected for one of the cases at the US District Court in Chicago. The terms of the settlements were not released.

Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed five months after Lion Air Flight 610 - another 737 Max - crashed into the Java Sea. An automated flight control system contributed to both crashes, which killed a total of 346 people.

Boeing to compensate victims in Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crash

David Shepardson 11 Nov 2021

The US planemaker has settled more than 90% of the dozens of civil lawsuits related to the two accidents, paying out billions of dollars in compensation through lawsuits, a deferred prosecution agreement and other payments, the company previously told Reuters.

The victims in the cases - Mercy Ngami Ndivo, Abdul Jalil Qaid Ghazi Hussein and Nasrudin Mohammed - all had ties to Kenya. Their families were represented by Chicago attorney Robert Clifford, who was appointed lead counsel in 2019 to represent the majority of plaintiffs suing Boeing for the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The two accidents led to a 20-month grounding of the company's best-selling jet and cost Boeing more than $20bn.