Boeing reached a last-minute settlement on Friday with Canadian citizen Paul Njoroge, just days before a scheduled trial over the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash that claimed 157 lives. Njoroge lost his wife and three young children in the tragedy and was seeking compensation for the devastating personal loss.
The trial was set to begin on Monday in a federal court in Chicago. It would have been the first courtroom battle related to the two deadly crashes involving Boeing’s 737 Max aircraft that led to a worldwide grounding of the jet model.
Family’s Tragic Loss on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302
Njoroge’s family was on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, flying to Kenya, when the plane crashed just minutes after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All passengers and crew members died in the accident.
According to his attorney Robert Clifford, Njoroge has never recovered from the emotional trauma. “He’s got complicated grief and sorrow and his own emotional stress,” said Clifford. “He’s haunted by nightmares and the loss of his wife and children.”
Since the crash, Njoroge has been unable to return to the family home in Toronto due to painful memories. He hasn’t been able to hold a job and has even faced criticism from some family members for not traveling with his wife and children on that trip.
Settlement Terms Kept Confidential
While the terms of the settlement were not made public, Clifford said his legal team had planned to seek “millions” in damages on behalf of Njoroge. However, no exact amount had been disclosed ahead of the trial.
Clifford added, “The aviation team at Clifford Law Offices has been working round-the-clock in preparation for trial, but the mediator was able to help the parties come to an agreement.”
What the Trial Was Expected to Cover
Although the trial was scheduled to focus mainly on the amount of compensation owed, it would not have examined the technical faults in the 737 Max aircraft. Boeing has faced intense scrutiny over the plane’s design after two nearly identical crashes—Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019 and Lion Air Flight 610 in Indonesia in 2018—that killed a total of 346 people.
In 2021, Boeing admitted responsibility for the Ethiopian crash in a settlement with victims’ families, allowing them to pursue compensation through U.S. courts rather than filing cases in their home countries. Victims came from 35 different nations.
Crashes Linked to Faulty System
Investigations showed that both crashes were caused by the aircraft’s flight control system, which relied on faulty data from a single sensor. This malfunction pushed the plane’s nose downward repeatedly, and the pilots could not regain control.
Following the second crash, aviation authorities worldwide grounded all Boeing 737 Max aircraft. The company later made software upgrades and design changes to fix the issue.
Earlier this year, Boeing also reached an agreement with the U.S. Justice Department to avoid criminal charges linked to the crashes.
