15 Kenyan families who lost their loved ones in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in March this year have rejected $100 million (Sh10 billion) offer from American aircraft manufacturer Boeing.
On Tuesday, Boeing offered the amount as an out-of-court compensation for families who lost their kin in two crashes involving Boeing 737 Max jets to withdraw cases filed in the United States.
Boeing the amount would cover victims of Ethiopian Airlines crash as well as Lion Air flight that went down in Indonesia in October 2018.
The Ethiopian flight killed all the 157 people on board, including 36 Kenyans, while 189 people perished in the Lion Air crash.
On Friday, lawyers representing the 15 Kenyan families said they will proceed with their case against Boeing to the end.
“Those whom we represent in totality have rejected the settlement terms, and the idea is to go for trial because once you go for trial, that’s when the statement will be made for purposes of the changes we are foreseeing in the aviation industry,” senior counsel Stephen Gachie said.
Gachie said that by giving the offer, Boeing is admitting to having made mistakes in the manufacturing of the 737 Max 8 aircraft.
“We foresee a situation where historic verdicts will be rendered by the courts. The reason why this case is of huge impact is because it’s going to change the history of aviation industry, it’s going to make people who make planes more responsible so that whenever you are traveling you don’t fear that maybe the manufacturer has done something which is wrong and therefore it’s a moment that the entire world is watching,” noted Murang’a Senator Irungu Kangata, who is among attorneys representing the families.
Several lawsuits have been filed in the US courts against Boeing, with families of the victims demanding millions of dollars in damages.
Doing the Maths. This is …
Doing the Maths. This is $100m÷15=$6,666,666,67 per Family; KShs. 666,666,666.67 per Family.
$ 100 million is for…
$ 100 million is for Ethiopia and Indonesia all that dies plus communities affected not much approximately $250,000
@GUEST1, that $100 is for…
@GUEST1, that $100 is for both Ethiopian Airline & Indonesia Airline victims. 157 + 189 = 346
Wrong maths the 100 is for…
Wrong maths the 100 is for the totall victims of both accidents combined.wh8ch is jus the price tag of one 737
$100m cover both crashes…
$100m cover both crashes. Total number of victims is 346(156+189). Subtract attorney’s fee and minus taxes.Each family may end up with less than $130,000.
@ Guest1 the settlement…
@ Guest1 the settlement amount is for all 346 victims for both airline crashes Lion air and Ethiopian not just the 15 families read the full article.
Nugu wewe … divide by 346 …
Nugu wewe … divide by 346 … not 15 … braryfuu
I applaud these families,…
I applaud these families, not everything is about money. Changes to ensure other families do not go through what they are undergoing is far greater respect for the departed.
Careful, you may end up…
Careful, you may end up settling for less in the end. When corporates start placing value on each life, they can be brutal.
It is very unfortunate that…
It is very unfortunate that accidents happen through human error,and act of “God/nature”.And its commendable that we help the loved ones to cope with the loss of loved ones,especially financially.But when a war breaks our over compensation,I wonder where we place our values.How much is enough compensation for alost loved one?Is $50 million enough for alost loved one?How about $100million?How do we determine the worth/value.HOw about ababy who dies in the crash,is he/she as valuable as an adult? Its obvious that if this was a small plane that had crashed,and10 people perish,the compensation could be much less.So does the human value depend on how big the “offender” is….Should there be an international standard of human value? Tough questions.
Certainly if the airline was negligent, they have to pay for their mistake.However, I wonder how an airline,knowing the catastrophic danger to their plane, staff,and of course passengers would risk to fly- a faulty plane?Certainly knowing the out come now(in hind sight)it could not be about profit.No body can argue that fixing a fault,is more important than compensation…Could it be that as human beings we make mistakes,and learn from them,and that what caused the plane to crash was not a forseeable event,and come?In other words when is amistake just amistake that is beyond human ability to fix?And who should pay for that ?Yes some mistakes are very costly.Yes we have come along way in aviation technology,and I believe that we still have along way to go in making a perfect”flying bird”.Till then,accidents of varying degrees will continue to haunt us.Yes its unfortunate,but we will learn from each mistake.My two cents.
Well said, but its about…
Well said, but its about some human lives being valued alot more than others, when those responsible start shifting blame to pilots inexperience like in both these cases,when they(manufactures) knew well there was a problem somwhere.No price on a life lost.