A Chicago jury has ordered Boeing to pay $29 million to the family of Michael “Mick” Ryan, an Irish-born World Food Programme employee killed in the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash in March 2019. The verdict extends the civil fallout from the 10 March disaster, in which all 157 people aboard Flight ET302 died, and adds to a series of large awards against the manufacturer over the two fatal MAX accidents.
Ryan’s widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan, brought the suit in Chicago and chose to pursue a jury trial rather than accept Boeing’s settlement offer. The case is among the final wave of remaining civil claims linked to the Ethiopian Airlines and Lion Air crashes, which grounded the MAX fleet worldwide for months and triggered sweeping scrutiny of the aircraft programme.
Boeing has already apologised for the crashes and acknowledged the role of the anti-stall software involved in the disasters. The latest verdict concerns civil damages only and does not involve criminal liability or any new regulatory action. In May, another Chicago jury awarded $49.5 million to the family of Samya Stumo in a separate MAX-related case.