U.S. airplane maker, Boeing, says it has launched a compensation fund for the relatives of 346 victims who were killed in crashes involving the company’s 737 MAX model in Indonesia and Ethiopia.
The families of the victims are each to receive $144,500 (52,020,000 naira), according to a statement by the fund, which is managed by prominent U.S. attorney, Ken Feinberg.
A social media influencer, Nigerian-born Canadian professor, writer, literary critic, satirist, and columnist, Pius Adesanmi, was among those who died in the March 10, 2019 crash, when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 plunged shortly after take-off.
Boeing said in July that it would set aside $100m in financial aid for the families, half of which is to be made available in the short term.
READ ALSO: Global aviation leaders meet to talk about MAX safety amid climate protests
Feinberg, who worked on similar compensation projects in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks and the BP Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, has assured claimants that they will not be required to waive the right to litigate in order to receive compensation.
Lion Air Flight 610 killed all 189 aboard, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines that erroneous inputs from an automated flight control system’s sensors could lead the jet to automatically pitch its nose down, but the agency allowed the jets to continue flying.
Five months later, the same system was blamed for playing a role when ET302 crashed on March 10, killing all 157 passengers and crew and prompting a worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX that remains in place.
Yetunde Adegoke
