Boeing reaches settlement with Kenyan-Canadian man whose family perished in Ethiopian Airlines crash

American aircraft manufacturer Boeing has reached a confidential settlement with Paul Njoroge, a Canadian man of Kenyan descent, whose wife and three young children were among 157 people killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash.

The deal, announced on Friday, averted what would have been the first jury trial in the United States linked to the disaster that led to a worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft.

Njoroge, 41, had filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Chicago seeking millions of dollars in damages for the emotional toll and immense personal loss caused by the crash of Flight 302.

His family, wife Carolyne, 6-year-old Ryan, 4-year-old Kellie, and 9-month-old Rubi, were en route to Kenya when the plane went down shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport. His mother-in-law, who was also on board, died in the tragedy and is the subject of a separate legal claim.

The plane, a Boeing 737 Max jet, was headed to Nairobi when it suddenly lost control and nose-dived into a field, killing everyone on board. It was later determined that a faulty sensor triggered an automated system that forced the nose downward, leaving pilots unable to regain control.

The incident, together with a similar crash in Indonesia five months earlier, killed a total of 346 people and led to a global 20-month grounding of the Max fleet.

Njoroge had been expected to testify in court starting Monday about the devastating impact of the loss on his life. His lawyer, Robert Clifford, said his client has not been able to return to their Toronto home due to the painful memories, has struggled to find employment, and continues to suffer from severe grief and emotional trauma.

“He’s haunted by nightmares and the loss of his wife and children,” Clifford said.

“He’s got complicated grief and sorrow and his emotional stress.”

Clifford said the aviation legal team had been working intensively in preparation for the trial but managed to reach an agreement with Boeing through mediation. While the exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed, Clifford confirmed that the claim was valued in the millions.

“The aviation team at Clifford Law Offices has been working around the clock in preparation for trial, but the mediator was able to help the parties agree,” he said in a statement.

The case would have been the first to go to trial over the two fatal Boeing 737 Max crashes. In 2021, Boeing accepted responsibility for the Ethiopian crash through a deal that permitted families to file individual lawsuits in U.S. courts. Families from more than 35 countries lost loved ones in the crash, and while several have since settled, those agreements have also remained confidential.

Njoroge, who met his wife while studying in Nairobi, was living in Canada at the time of the crash and had planned to join his family in Kenya at a later date.

In testimony before the US Congress in 2019, he recalled vivid images of his family’s final moments.

“I stay up nights thinking of the horror that they must have endured. The six minutes will forever be embedded in my mind. I was not there to help them. I couldn’t save them,” Njoroge said.

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Boeing has since settled more than 90 per cent of civil lawsuits linked to the 737 Max crashes. Earlier this year, it reached a plea agreement with the US Department of Justice to avoid criminal prosecution for misleading regulators about the aircraft’s flight control system.

The company could face further legal scrutiny in a trial scheduled for November, where Clifford will represent the families of six more Ethiopian Airlines victims.