Boeing Must Pay $28M to Family of Dead Passenger

A federal court jury has awarded over $28 million to the family of a United Nations consultant who died in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia more than six years ago. The verdict was reached Wednesday on behalf of the relatives of Shikha Garg after two hours of jury deliberation that capped a weeklong trial in Chicago, where Boeing used to have its headquarters. It was the first civil trial stemming from the March 2019 disaster that killed all 157 people on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, reports the AP. "We and the family are gratified by the jury's verdict. It provides public accountability for Boeing's wrongful conduct," the family's lawyers, Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford, said in a statement.

Boeing will pay an additional $3.45 million to Garg's husband, Soumya Bhattacharya, as part of a deal he and the company reached outside of court. That, along with a 26% interest charge, brings the total amount Boeing will pay to Garg's family to $35.8 million. The aircraft maker has negotiated pre-trial settlements in most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed in connection with the crash and a similar 737 Max disaster five months earlier off the coast of Indonesia, although details of the settlements were not disclosed. Lawyers say less than a dozen lawsuits remain unresolved. In a statement Wednesday, Boeing apologized to all the victims' families and said it respects their right to pursue their claims in court.

Jurors weren't tasked with weighing the aircraft maker's liability in the crash because Boeing has already accepted responsibility. One contentious point was whether Garg suffered pain in her final moments before death, with Boeing lawyer Dan Webb arguing that "there would not have been time for them to feel any physical pain when they hit the ground." The payout awarded to Garg's family by the jury includes $10 million for the "pain and suffering and emotional distress" she experienced before the crash.