American Civil Aviation and Boeing Investigators will explore debris at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines' flight ET 302 plane crash on March 12, 2019, near the town of Bischoffuhutu, Ethiopia.Baz Ratner/Reuters
Boeing Co Ba-n, a US plane maker, said he died on Monday at a maximum of 737 on the eve of trial, along with two families who died in the crash of Ethiopian Airlines' Boeing 737 crash in March 2019, with the family members and lawyers enrolled in the school on Monday.
The terms of the settlement with the families of victims Antoine Lewis and Darcy Bellenger were not released.
The trial in U.S. District Court in Chicago was expected to be the first against plane makers with two deadly 737 biggest crashes in 2018 and 2019.
Boeing agreed in 2021 to acknowledge liability for compensatory damages to the families of 157 people killed in the 2019 crash of the Ethiopian Airlines. The family agreed not to seek punitive damages.
Lewis, 39, was the US military captain on military leave who traveled to Africa to investigate opportunities to start a logistics business, but Beranger, 46, of Denver, Colorado, flew to the UN Environmental Congress, where he was scheduled to speak.
Boeing repeatedly apologised for the crash on Monday, saying, “We have accepted our legal liability for the accident with a prepayment commitment to fully and fairly compensated for our families. We will continue to work to resolve the family's claims fairly.”
The plane maker said it has resolved more than 90% of its claims from the two 737 largest accidents and paid billions of dollars in compensation to its families through lawsuits, deferred prosecutor's agreements and other payments.
There are two other exams set for July and November.
Boeing CEO Kelly Autoberg said last week that the plane manufacturer had discussed with the Department of Justice to reach a plea agreement that was revised in a criminal fraud case resulting from misrepresentation to regulators over the 737's biggest major safety systems.
Boeing pleaded guilty to conspiracy in criminal fraud in July and agreed to pay a fine of up to $487.2 million. The judge will set a trial date June 23rd if the final agreement is not reached.
The parents of the victims who fell crashed were unable to properly hold Boeing accountable because they called the judicial agreement “lovers.”
The Justice Department found in May that Boeing violated a 2021 agreement that it protected against crash fall prosecution. Prosecutors then decided to file a criminal complaint for Boeing and negotiate the current plea deal.
