Boeing faces a civil lawsuit over the Ethiopian Airlines crash in 2019

Remaining plaintiffs and possible settlement

The trial was originally planned for six plaintiffs. However, all but one have reached an agreement, a person involved in the litigation said AFP.

Even if a court settlement is possible even after the proceedings have begun, insiders assume that the case will go to court.

The plaintiffs are family members of Manisha Nukavarapu, an Indian-born medical student who died in the accident.

Boeing’s acceptance of responsibility and future testing

Boeing has publicly accepted responsibility for the crashes in civil lawsuits and public statements, blaming the design of the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS).

The system malfunctioned in the Ethiopian Airlines crash and an earlier Lion Air crash in Indonesia that killed 189 people.

Despite the admission, as of October 22, 30 cases remain pending on behalf of 29 victims, with another trial scheduled for April 2025 unless all lawsuits are resolved before then.

Boeing Financial Impact and Settlements

Boeing has announced that over 90% of cases related to the crashes have been resolved.

“Boeing has paid billions of dollars to the accident families and their attorneys in connection with civil litigation,” a Boeing lawyer said at an Oct. 11 court hearing.

The hearing was part of a Justice Department criminal case over fraud charges related to MAX certification, in which Boeing agreed to plead guilty in July under a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA).