A Chicago court has begun proceedings in the first civil trial related to the crash of a Boeing airplane in Ethiopia, six years after the disaster killed all 157 people on board. The trial, which started on Wednesday, comes as Boeing has already settled most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed by families of the victims. However, two remaining cases are being heard by a federal court jury, which was selected on Tuesday.
The cases involve the families of Mercy Ndivo, a 28-year-old mother from Kenya, and Shikha Garg, a 36-year-old United Nations consultant from India, who were among the passengers who died in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash on March 10, 2019. The plane, a Boeing 737 Max jetliner, crashed just minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing everyone on board.
Boeing has accepted responsibility for the crash and a similar 737 Max crash five months earlier off the Indonesian coast that killed 189 passengers and crew. The trial will focus on determining the amount of compensation the company should pay to the families of the two victims. Lawyers for the families and Boeing were scheduled to give their opening statements on Wednesday.
The trial is significant as it marks one of the first times a court will decide on the amount of compensation to be paid to families of victims of the 737 Max crashes. Boeing has stated that it is “deeply sorry” for the accidents and has made an upfront commitment to fully and fairly compensate the families of those who were lost. The company respects the families’ rights to pursue claims in court and has accepted legal responsibility for the accidents.
The cases being heard this week were among a group of five that potentially could have gone to trial, but only two could proceed due to the government shutdown in the US. Robert Clifford, a Chicago lawyer representing many of the victims’ families, including Ndivo’s parents, said attempts to reach a pre-trial settlement through mediation failed in recent months. An out-of-court settlement in one or both of the cases currently on trial could still be reached at any point. The outcome of the trial will be closely watched as it sets a precedent for future compensation claims related to the 737 Max crashes.