(Washington) Boeing has reached an agreement with the families of the victims of the 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people in Ethiopia in March 2019, and has admitted responsibility for the crash according to legal documents filed Wednesday with ‘a Chicago court.
“Boeing is committed to ensuring that all families who have lost loved ones in accidents are fully and fairly compensated,” said the company, requested by AFP.
“Recognizing its responsibility, Boeing’s agreement with families allows the parties to focus their efforts on determining the appropriate compensation for each family.”
Flight 302 to Nairobi, operated by Ethiopian Airlines, crashed in a field southeast of the capital Addis Ababa, six minutes after taking off in March 2019.
The accident had resulted in the grounding of the 737 MAX models, and the worst crisis in the history of the American aircraft manufacturer, as it followed by a few months another accident, that of a Lion Air aircraft in Indonesia in October 2018 (189 dead).
The proposed agreement Wednesday does not mention sums, but specifies that jurors will be responsible for assessing “amounts of compensation just and reasonable based on the evidence presented”.
The families of the victims will be able to take steps to obtain compensation in American courts. The 157 people who died were of 35 different nationalities.
“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of all those who lost their lives on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302,” the Boeing spokesperson said on Wednesday.
“Since the accidents, Boeing has made significant changes as a company, and in the design of the 737 MAX, to ensure that accidents like these never happen again.”
The 737 MAX, a new version of the legendary medium-haul released in 1967, tarnished the reputation of the aircraft manufacturer and cost it billions of dollars.
He remained grounded for twenty months, before being gradually allowed to fly around the world since the end of 2020.
The companies have put back into service more than 200 aircraft of this type.