Boeing Co BA is in court over the compensation that it owes to the families of those who died in a 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia in 2019. The crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 killed all 157 people on board when it plunged into the ground at about 700 miles per hour shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. It was one of two fatal crashes involving Boeing's 737 MAX jets that resulted in its worldwide grounding for nearly two years.
The families of victims of Ethiopian Airlines are seeking additional damages for the emotional and physical distress their loved ones have suffered during the flight, despite the fact that Boeing has settled most of the civil lawsuits from both crashes.
Boeing's lawyers argue that if there is evidence that it occurred, they only have to pay for conscious pain and suffering under Illinois state law, where Boeing was based at the time of the crash. The lawyers claim that there is no evidence that death was too quick for passengers to feel any pain.
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An expert said that the human brain cannot process pain faster than 200 milliseconds and that the impact forces were so great that death would have been instantaneous. They also dismissed any claims based on what passengers might have felt during the flight as speculative. The lawyers for the families argue that Boeing's argument is contrary to Illinois law and defies common sense and fundamental fairness. There is evidence of pain and suffering based on eyewitness accounts, cockpit recordings, flight data, medical reports, and expert opinions, according to families.
The families said that passengers suffered from fear, anxiety, nausea, chest pain, hypoxia, loss of consciousness, and other injuries as they experienced extreme changes in altitude, speed, and direction during the flight. They said passengers knew they were going to die as they heard alarms, saw smoke, smelled fuel and braced for impact.
The judge will have to decide whether Illinois law allows for pre-impact damages and whether there is enough evidence to support them. The outcome could affect how much Boeing has to pay to the families of those who lost their lives.
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