Boeing Settles More Than 60 Wrongful Death Cases Filed After Lion Air Crash

A Boeing Co. lawyer said the aircraft maker has reached settlements in more than 60 wrongful death cases filed after a 737 Max 8 plane flown by Lion Air crashed in Indonesia last year, killing all 189 people aboard.

Attorney Dan Webb told U.S. District Judge Jorge L. Alonso in Chicago on Thursday that Boeing has reached agreements involving 63 or 64 plaintiffs filed by families and estates of the Lion Air victims. Webb made his comments during a status hearing on separate litigation involving claims from the March 2019 crash of a 737 Max plane flown by Ethiopian Airlines, which killed 157.

All the lawsuits have been working their way through the federal court system in Chicago, where Boeing is based, as the company tries to fend off allegations that both crashes were the result of design flaws in its 737 Max aircraft.

Plaintiff and defense lawyers have declined to disclose how much money the company agreed to pay in the settlements.

Previously, Boeing had indicated it would request that Lion Air cases be moved to Indonesia, where the crash occurred in October 2018 and where the plane was maintained. A federal judge hinted last month that there was some merit in the argument to move the case, but he did not issue a formal ruling.

Photograph: Indonesian investigators inspect the wreckage of an engine from Lion Air Flight JT 610 recovered from the sea at the Tanjung Priok port on Nov. 4, 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Photo credit: Ulet Ifansasti/Getty Images.

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