Boeing under increase of lawsuits over fatal crashes

The plane manufacturing juggernaut Boeing is being held under scrutiny over the Lion Air disaster, it has been reported. 

More family members of the aforementioned disaster are coming forward to sue the airplane giant, citing an apology from Boeing’s CEO over the two fatal crashes of 737 Max aircrafts as aiding their legal case. 

Last week the CEO of Boeing Dennis Muilenburg issued an apology for the horrendous Lion Air crash in the October of 2018, as well as the Ethiopian Airplanes crash in March. Combined the crashes killed nearly 350 people. 

“We at Boeing are sorry for the lives lost in the recent 737 MAX accidents, he said.

“These tragedies continue to weigh heavily on our hearts and minds, and we extend our sympathies to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.” 

In response, more families of the victims and their lawyers are coming forward with pursuits of legal action against Boeing, stating that the apology helps their case, per the reports of Associated Press.

In addition to the dozens of families suing the corporation, 11 more victims are seeking retribution via their families, as announced at a recent press conference. This conference was arranged by Kailimang & Ponto, a law firm based in Jakarta that is representing the families of the victims.

Speaking at the conference was Merdian Agustin, who lost her husband to the crash:”Boeing’s CEO explicitly apologized to 346 passenger families. We hope this is good momentum to have compensation rights,”

Per her testimony, Agustin’s family and others had refused to sign a waiver of sorts that would’ve prevented them from suing Lion Air and Boeing in exchange for around $85,000 in compensation from Indonesia.

“We refused to sign such a document containing statements that are treating our loved ones like lost baggage,” she said. “It’s ridiculous and hurts us.”

The investigations of the crashes and both preliminary reports found a fault in the planes’ automated anti-stall system, which received an inaccurate sensor reading and pushed down the nose of the plane.

In his apology Muilenburg acknowledged both reports that the plane’s automated systems had acted in error, and that his company are working on a fix that “will ensure accidents like that of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 never happen again.”

In the meantime while Boeing completes the software fix, all the 737 Max jets will remain grounded around the world. Service will not resume until the Federal Aviation Administration and the equivalent regulators overseas approve the fix. 

Boeing also announced on Friday that the production of 737 Max jets will be cut from 52 a month to 42 a month in retaliation to investors’ concerns about the crashes.

Article by Marc Gallagher

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