WASHINGTON — Boeing settled two lawsuits regarding the deadly Ethiopian Airlines crash from 2019 on the eve of a scheduled civil trial. The settlement was made just hours before jury selection was set to be underway.
On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX jet departed from Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, headed to Kenya. The flight crashed six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board.
This crash, and the Air Lion Flight 610 deadly crash that killed 189 people just months before, prompted Boeing to ground all of its 737 MAX Jets. Issues with the new Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) were cited in both crashes.
Tacoma-based aviation attorney Mark Lindquist has represented several victims’ families in both crashes, and has represented families in other Boeing incidents as well.
Civil suits on behalf of two men who were on board the Ethiopian flight were scheduled to start on Monday before the settlement was reached.
The details of the settlement will remain confidential.
“I’m happy for our client,” Lindquist said. “She (the wife of victim Belanger) stood her ground. We are satisfied with the resolution, accountability, and closure.”
According to Lindquist:
- Belanger, 46, of Denver, Colorado, was the director of professional development at PCL Construction. He was also a founding member of an environmental non-profit group. At the time of the crash, he was flying to a United Nations Environmental Assembly where he was scheduled to speak. He left behind his wife Amie and his two parents.
- Lewis, 39, was a U.S. Army Captain from suburban Chicago, Illinois. Cpt. Lewis was on military leave taking a trip to Africa to investigate opportunities to begin a logistics business that would address the systemic supply chain failures in the continent. He was approaching 20 years in the military, at which time he would have been eligible for his full military pension and eyeing a post-military life with his wife, fellow Army soldier, Yalena Lopez Lewis, and their two sons.
Lewis is represented by a Chicago-based firm.
Of the 157 people who died in the crash, there are still cases pending for 18 people who died. The next trial is set in July of this year.
Additionally, in July, Boeing is facing a trial on criminal charges brought by the Department of Justice.
KIRO 7 has reached out to Boeing for comment and has yet to hear back.
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