Each of the 32 Kenyan families whose kin died in the March 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max will receive $2.73 million (Sh353.3 million), ending a seven-year court battle that triggered the Sh11.3 billion payout.

The payout follows a Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA) arrived at between Boeing and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) last year, which saw the US-based plane maker avoid charges of criminal liability

The latest compensation forms part of a $444.5 million (Sh57.5 billion) victim compensation fund established by the DoJ after Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed five months after Lion Air Flight 610—another 737 MAX—crashed into the Java sea, Indonesia.

An automated flight control system contributed to both crashes, which killed a total of 346 people, and Boeing sought compensation deals to defer or avoid prosecution.

The fresh disbursement adds to $1.45 million (Sh187.7 million) earlier paid to each family as part of $500 million compensation package agreed in 2021, pushing the total payout for each victim to Sh540 million.

The latest compensation was revealed by Chicago-based Ribbeck Law Chartered, which represents 93 families affected by the two Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashes.

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Ribbeck said on August 26 that Boeing would begin making final compensation payments to its clients, concluding its legal work for the represented families in the US, Africa, Middle East and Asia.

“We handled a highly complex matter that required international coordination across more than 35 countries where the victims resided, as well as litigation in multiple jurisdictions,” explained Manuel von Ribbeck of Ribbeck Law Chartered.

“We have now concluded the legal work on behalf of our clients in the United States, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Boeing will begin compensating our clients immediately pursuant to the non-prosecution agreement entered into with the U.S. Department of Justice.”

People walk at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia March 10, 2019.

Photo credit: File

The two accidents led to a 20-month grounding of the company’s best-selling jet and cost Boeing more than $20 billion.

Boeing has reached settlements in multiple lawsuits brought by the families of victims who died in the March 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 Max.

Following the March 2019 crash, the Kenyan families joined lawsuits in US federal court seeking compensation from Boeing, beginning a prolonged legal process over liability, damages and victims’ rights.

The flight crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa on March 10, 2019, killing all 157 people aboard.

Kenya had the largest single national contingent among the passengers, with 36 Kenyans dying in the crash, although 32 held Kenyan passports while four travelled on other or dual nationalities.

The US Justice Department pressed charges against Boeing, accusing it of conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration over technical information provided about the 737 MAX.

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The Ethiopian accident investigation found that an angle-of-attack sensor was damaged, flight-control systems activated, and that the aircraft ultimately lost control before striking the ground.

The legal response developed along two separate tracks, including civil claims brought by individual families and a US criminal case brought by the Justice Department.

In January 2021, Boeing entered into a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the Justice Department and agreed to pay more than $2.5 billion (Sh323.5 billion), comprising a $243.6 million (Sh31.5 billion) criminal penalty, $1.77 billion (Sh229.04 billion) in compensation to Boeing’s airline customers and a $500 million (Sh64.7 billion) fund for families and beneficiaries of the 346 crash victims.

The first Kenyan family represented by Ribbeck received $3 million (Sh388.2 million at current conversion rates) in December 2020, becoming the first of the 32 Kenyan cases to settle.

The payment, which was separate from the $500 million criminal-case fund, demonstrated how compensation could vary depending on the route taken by individual families.

By June 2021, Kenyan families had begun receiving payments from the $500 million US victim fund.

The compensation process continued as civil cases proceeded through the US courts, with families pursuing claims covering loss of income, support, companionship, suffering and other damages.

In October 2022, a federal judge recognised representatives of more than a dozen families as crime victims under the US Crime Victims’ Rights Act in the Boeing criminal case.

The ruling gave the families formal rights within the criminal proceedings, including rights to consultation and participation as the Justice Department considered how to resolve the case.

Also Read: Ethiopian Airlines crash victims' families, lawyers receive cash