Kenyan families receive $87.3m over Ethiopia crash

Families of 32 Kenyans killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash are set to receive a combined $87.3m from Boeing-linked victim compensation funds, nearly seven years after the disaster, reports TRT Afrika. Chicago-based Ribbeck Law Chartered, the law firm representing the families, said Boeing would begin making final payments following the conclusion of legal proceedings in the US. The firm said the Kenyan families’ allocation totals $87 343 352.60, averaging about $2.73m per victim across the compensation funds. ‘We have now concluded the legal work on behalf of our clients in the US, Africa, the Middle East and Asia,’ Manuel von Ribbeck of the firm said. The payments are linked to compensation funds established under Boeing’s agreements with the US Justice Department over two fatal 737 MAX crashes. A 2025 non-prosecution agreement required Boeing to provide an additional $444.5m for victims, on top of a $500m fund established under a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. The latest $444.5m fund is to be divided equally among the estates of the 346 people killed in the two crashes. Boeing also agreed to invest $455m in compliance, safety and quality programs. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on 10 March 2019, about six minutes after departing Addis Ababa for Nairobi. Kenya recorded the largest number of victims by nationality.

Full TRT Afrika report