A Chicago jury has awarded $29 million (€25 million) to the family of Micheál ‘Mick’ Ryan, an Irish United Nations employee who died in the 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX, according to a spokesperson for the US court.
The civil action against Boeing was filed by Naoise Connolly Ryan, Mr Ryan’s widow.
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Mr Ryan, who was a father of two, was among the 157 people killed when the Ethiopian Airlines aircraft crashed. There were no survivors.
The Clare native had worked in Liberia during the Ebola crisis and later supported Rohingya refugees.
Parts of the landing gear lie in a pile after being gathered during recovery efforts after the 2019 crash
The lawsuit is one of the last outstanding civil cases against Boeing stemming from the two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, which together claimed 346 lives.
Read more:Irishman among 157 victims of Ethiopian Airlines crash’He wanted to save the world,’ says Micheál Ryan’s mother
Most claims connected to the disasters have been resolved through confidential out-of-court settlements. However, Steven Marks, the lawyer representing Ms Connolly Ryan, previously said she was “committed to seeking accountability and justice from a jury and not accepting money from Boeing directly”.
Boeing has apologised for both crashes and admitted that anti-stall software played a role in the incidents.
In May, a Chicago jury awarded $49.5 million in damages to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American who was also killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
The 157 people on board came from 35 countries.
The flight was travelling to Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, when it crashed near Bishoftu, about 50km southeast of Addis Abada.
The aircraft departed at 8.38am local time on 10 March 2019. Six minutes later, at 8.44am, contact with the control tower was lost.
The airline’s chief executive said the pilot, who had an “excellent flying record”, reported problems and had received clearance to turn back.
The aircraft had been in service for only a few months, completing its first flight at the end of October.
It underwent its most recent maintenance on 4 February 2019 and had recorded just 1,200 hours of flying time.
