Lawyers representing the families of the victims of the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max crash are pushing for up to $58 billion in compensation, more than double the initial request for the crash victim’s families.
Last month, the American plane maker, Boeing, finalised an agreement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to plead guilty to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge and to pay fines ranging between $243.6 million and $487 million, which is only a fraction of $24.8 billion in compensation that families of the crash victims had initially requested.
The lawyers said in a submission to a US District Court, disputed the agreement, arguing the compensation amount is too little and is instead pushing for a much higher compensation amount of between $47 billion and $58 billion.
Issues with the 737 Max arising from corner-cutting and oversight in Boeing’s manufacturing process led to the Ethiopian Airlines crash, which killed all 149 people on board shortly after takeoff from Bole International Airport.
The lawyers further urged the Court to dismiss the proposed plea suggesting that Boeing should be required to pay a substantial fine which recognizes the value of each of the 149 people killed and the significant harm to others.
In 2019, Boeing had admitted full responsibility for the crash in a legal agreement, which stated that the aircraft manufacturer accepted responsibility for the crash of Ethiopian airlines flight 302 in March 2019, having produced an airplane that had unsafe conditions.
MG/as/APA