6 yrs after Indian woman among 157 killed in crash, case on Boeing set to begin

In an air crash that killed 157 people in Ethiopia in 2019, an Indian victim's family is one of two whose cases against aircraft maker Boeing are set to open before a federal court jury in Chicago this week.

The company has accepted its fault and settled most of the dozens of lawsuits by families of victims in the six years after a Boeing 737 Max jetliner crashed. Even in the trial for these cases now in Chicago, where Boeing used to have its headquarters, the jury won't examine the the company's liability.

What the eight-person jury would be tasked with is, deciding how much Boeing should pay to the families of Mercy Ndivo, a 28-year-old mother originally from Kenya, and 36-year-old United Nations consultant Shikha Garg, who was from India, AP reported.

The crash happened minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport.

Mercy Ndivo and her husband were returning from her graduation ceremony in London, where she had earned a master's degree in accountancy. They are survived by their daughter, an infant at the time who is now almost 8. Ndivo's parents have sued Boeing on her behalf.

Shikha Garg, a consultant for the United Nations Development Programme, was on her way to attend a UN environmental assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, like a number of the other passengers. She is survived by her husband and parents.

Boeing has accepted responsibility also for what happened to Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, similar to the 737 Max crash, off the coast of Indonesia that killed 189 passengers and crew members less than five months before the Addis Ababa crash.

In a statement on November 3, Boeing told the families of the 346 passengers and crew members killed in both crashes that it is “deeply sorry.”

"We made an upfront commitment to fully and fairly compensate the families of those who were lost in the accidents, and have accepted legal responsibility for the accidents in these proceedings," Boeing said. It also said it respected the families' rights to pursue their claims in court.

The two cases now pending before US District Judge Jorge Luis Alonso are originally from a bunch of five petitions that could have gone to trial.

But Alonso said that only two could proceed due to the US government shutdown. There is a possibility of an out-of-court settlement in either or both at any point, even after a jury is empaneled and lawyers present their evidence.

Details of prior settlements are confidential and have not been publicly disclosed.

Mediation has failed so far. Robert Clifford, a Chicago lawyer whose firm represents many of the victims' families, told AP: "Boeing accepted full responsibility for the senseless and preventable loss of these lives, yet they have not been mediating in good faith to come to a resolution for these devastated families… We are determined to achieve justice for every one of them.”

As for the incident, from nearly the moment the 737 Max took off, a device called a “stick shaker” began vibrating the captain's control column, warning that the plane might stall and fall from the sky.

For six minutes, the pilots were bombarded by alarms as they fought to fly the plane, said the AP report.

In both crashes, software pitched the nose of the planes down repeatedly based on faulty readings from a single sensor.

US prosecutors also charged Boeing with “conspiracy to commit fraud” in connection with both crashes, accusing the company of deceiving government regulators about a flight-control system it developed for the 737 Max planes.

That remains in limbo though.

The US Justice Department has asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss the charge and to approve an agreement between prosecutors and Boeing that is pending.

The deal could allow Boeing to avoid prosecution in exchange for paying or investing another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for the victims' families, and internal safety measures.

Source: Hindustan Times
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