Boeing Creates Settlement Fund For Crash Victims

The company set aside $100 million for the fund, but it likely won’t be enough.

Boeing announced in a statement that the settlement fund is meant to “address [the] family and community needs of those affected.” The company said that the funds will go towards education, living expenses, community programs, and economic development in families and communities that were impacted by the crashes.

One lawyer representing 23 of the affected families of the second crash, Robert Clifford, told Business Insider that the announcement by Boeing didn’t rest well with the families he’s spoken to. “At best it’s a gesture, at worst it’s a token effort to address problems that aren’t foremost on the minds of these families,” he said. The first priority of most of the families is having the remains of the family members killed in the second crash returned to them so they can move onto memorial services and get some closure. Boeing should put their money to furthering that goal, Clifford argues.

The two Boeing 737 Max crashes caused numerous lawsuits while the crashes were being investigated. It was after the second crash in Ethiopia that all 737 Max aircraft were grounded while investigators rooted out the cause. The cause of the crashes was determined to be a software malfunction that controlled the planes’ maneuvering. Lawsuits have come from families across the globe, and over 400 pilots have also sued Boeing over lost wages as a result of the grounding of the entire 737 Max fleet.

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