Boeing settles first Lion Air lawsuits
• Boeing Co. has settled the first claims stemming from the crash of a Lion Air 737 MAX in Indonesia, a U.S. plaintiffs’ lawyer said, and three other sources said that families of those killed will receive at least US$1.2 million apiece.
Floyd Wisner of Wisner Law Firm said he has settled 11 of his 17 claims against Boeing on behalf of families who lost their relatives when a brand- new MAX crashed into the Java Sea on Oct. 29 soon after takeoff, killing all 189 aboard.
Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe declined comment. Boeing did not admit liability in its 11 settlements, Wisner said.
The claims, each representing one victim, are the first to be settled out of some 55 lawsuits against Boeing in U. S. federal court in Chicago and could set the bar for mediation talks by other Lion Air plaintiffs’ lawyers that are scheduled through next month, three people familiar with the matter said.
Wisner said he could not disclose the amount of the settlements because of a confidentiality agreement with Boeing.
The three people familiar with the matter said families of Lion Air victims, who were nearly all from Indonesia, are set to receive at least US$1.2 million each. That amount would be for a single victim without any dependents.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are confidential.
Boeing’s shares rose as much as two per cent on Wednesday.
Awards can vary according to victims’ nationality, age, marital status, income, dependents and life expectancy. The Lion Air victims were mainly from Indonesia, where incomes and crash awards tend to be lower than in the United States.
The manufacturer is also facing nearly 100 lawsuits over an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash on March 10 that killed 157 people on its way from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.
Lawsuits over both crashes highlight the role of MCAS automated software that pushed the nose of the two planes lower. They claim that design flaws allowed erroneous sensor data to set off the automated system and overwhelm pilots.
The Lion Air lawsuits are being mediated before Donald O’connell, a retired judge of the Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois, a jurisdiction often used for air accidents situated in Chicago, where Boeing is based.
Lawyers for the Ethiopian Airlines crash are pushing for a jury trial in U. S. federal court in Chicago, demanding to know why Boeing allowed the 737 MAX to go on flying after the Lion Air incident.
In the Lion Air case, families of victims who were married with one to three children could receive between US$2 million and US$3 million, the people said.