Africa-Press Ethiopia<\/p>\n
A Kenyan family whose relative was among 157 people killed in last year’s Ethiopian Airlines plane crash has accepted a huge payout from Boeing, which the Nation learnt is $3 million (Sh333 million).<\/p>\n
This followed a spirited fight in the United States court system by the family, which prompted the world’s largest aircraft manufacturer to reach a compensation deal for the death in the March, 2019 accident.<\/p>\n
At 8.44am on March 10, 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed just six minutes after taking off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.<\/p>\n
Read: Ethiopian Airlines crash: Kenyan families advised on compensation<\/p>\n
The flight was on its way to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew members. The Boeing 737-800 MAX’s anti-stall system is believed to have triggered a malfunction that led to a crash in Bishoftu, 60 kilometres from Addis Ababa. Nobody survived the crash. There were 32 Kenyans on the flight, including the pilot.<\/p>\n
Several victims blamed Boeing and placed their hopes in the US court system by filing multiple compensation claims against the world’s biggest airplane manufacturer in Chicago.<\/p>\n
And, with compensation claims piling up, Boeing has been trying to pursue out-of-court deals with the families of victims. Some of the victims’ lawyers made public two attempts by Boeing to settle out of court.<\/p>\n
In what could be Boeing’s first admission of liability for the crash, the aircraft manufacturer has now reached an out-of-court deal with one Kenyan family after initially denying liability.<\/p>\n
Usually, out-of-court deals of this nature involve the admission of liability. However, the terms of the settlement agreement<\/p>\n
Read: Dejected families return home as Ethiopian Airlines plans payout<\/p>\n
Part of the settlement agreement bars the identification of the family or the amount of money paid out. But the Nation established from a close associate of the family that the settlement is in the region of Sh333 million ($3 million).<\/p>\n
Ribbeck Law Chartered, the advocates representing the Kenyan family, said the settlement amount was the largest possible that could be gotten from Boeing.<\/p>\n
Losing innocent lives<\/strong><\/p>\n “We believe Boeing should pay a fair and reasonable amount to all families. We are hopeful that Boeing will change the way they operate to avoid losing innocent lives again,” Deon Botha of Ribbeck Law Chartered said. The law firm argued that the settlement has spared the family years of litigation in a foreign land, whose results would not have been far off from the settlement.<\/p>\n s mostly remain a private affair between the concerned parties, unlike court proceedings which are open to the public.<\/p>\n Manuel von Ribbeck, the law firm’s co-founder, added that, while the settlement is a victory for the Kenyan family, “no amount of money in the world will bring our clients’ loved beloved family members back”.<\/p>\n Aside from the amount, the family has already benefited from a fund started by Boeing to assist victims cope with their loss.<\/p>\n The family has, for instance, ensured that Boeing will fund a water and solar energy project in their community. Last year the Boeing fund drew criticism from a section of victims’ families who claimed it was a strategy to gain sympathy and dodge a hefty payout. Most families have rebuffed Boeing’s settlement offers, insisting they want to proceed with the cases to the end.<\/p>\n Boeing’s settlement follows a report by the US Legislative Committee, which cited serious flaws in the 737-800 MAX models. The report said Boeing withheld crucial information on the workings of the aircraft from pilots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Africa-Press Ethiopia A Kenyan family whose relative was among 157 people killed in last year’s Ethiopian Airlines plane crash has accepted a huge payout from Boeing, which the Nation learnt is $3 million (Sh333 million). This followed a spirited fight in the United States court system by the family, which prompted the world’s largest aircraft […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":786,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3],"tags":[241,261],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press-ethiopia","tag-ethiopian-airlines"],"yoast_head":"\n