- A Chicago jury awarded $29 million (€25.3 million) to the widow of Micheál Ryan.
- Ryan was a 39-year-old Irish UN worker killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash in 2019.
- The case is one of the last remaining civil suits against Boeing over the MAX crashes.
- The widow rejected settlement offers to pursue accountability through a jury trial.
- The verdict follows a $49.5 million award to another victim’s family from the same flight.
A Chicago jury has awarded $29 million (€25.3 million) in damages to the family of Micheál Ryan, an Irish-born UN employee who perished in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash. The civil suit against Boeing was brought by Naoise Connolly Ryan, the widow of the 39-year-old Clare native, who was one of 157 people killed when the 737 MAX aircraft crashed six minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa. The couple’s two children were also beneficiaries of the award, which the jury determined after a trial lasting approximately 10 days in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
The case is among the final civil suits pending against Boeing following the two fatal MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019, which collectively claimed 346 lives. While most claims have been settled out of court, Ms Ryan’s legal team confirmed her commitment to seeking accountability through a jury verdict, rather than accepting a direct settlement from the manufacturer. This verdict follows a Chicago jury awarding $49.5 million (€43.2 million) in May to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American also killed on the same flight. Ryan had worked with the UN World Food Programme during the Ebola crisis in Liberia and with Rohingya refugees, with his career also encompassing postings in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Ethiopia.
Boeing has previously apologised for the crashes and acknowledged the role of anti-stall software in both incidents, though the company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on this specific award. The civil outcome adds to ongoing legal pressure, as families continue to push the U.S. Department of Justice to pursue criminal charges against Boeing executives, with a federal judge in Texas having recently scrutinised a proposed plea deal between the department and the company. The family had previously redirected an initial voluntary payment from Boeing to an aviation safety foundation, describing the funds as unacceptable compensation for their loss.
Steven Marks shared, “Our client is committed to seeking accountability and justice from a jury and not accepting money from Boeing directly.”
