Wednesday 24 Apr 2024
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(July 8): Boeing Co said it has settled 90% of the wrongful death claims filed in a US court over the 2018 crash of a 737 Max jet operated by Lion Air.

Claims relating to 171 of the 189 people on board Lion Air Flight JT 610 have been settled, Boeing said Tuesday in a Chicago federal court filing. The company didn’t say how much it had paid the families or estates of the passengers and crew members killed in the crash.

Of the resolved cases, five were partially settled because they involved more than one claim per person killed or involved claims represented by more than one law firm, Chicago-based Boeing said. The company said it is optimistic that the remaining cases will be resolved.

The crash occurred over the Java Sea in October 2018, followed five month later by another 737 Max crash in Ethiopia that killed 157. The incidents led to lawsuits alleging the jets were unsafe and had a faulty software system. The 737 fleet has been grounded, Boeing sales have plunged, and the US government is investigating the aircraft’s flight-control system.

A year ago, Boeing said it would offer US$100 million to support the families of victims and communities of those affected by the crashes.

“Boeing has been working diligently to settle these cases through a mediation process,” Peter Pedraza, a company spokesman, said in an email. “We are pleased to have made significant progress in recent months in resolving cases brought by the victims’ families on terms that we believe fairly compensate them.”

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