By David Shepardson(Reuters) - A U.S. judge ruled late on Tuesday that relatives of those killed in a 2019 Boeing 737 MAX Ethiopian Airlines crash may seek compensation for pain and suffering of passengers before the plane hit the ground. Boeing in 2021 agreed to acknowledge liability for compensatory damages in lawsuits filed by families of the 157 people killed in the fatal Ethiopian 737 MAX crash. A total of 346 people were killed in two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes - including the earlier October 2018 Lion Air crash in Indonesia. The Ethiopian Airlines crash prompted the worldwide grounding of the MAX in March 2019 for 20 months, costing Boeing more than $20 billion. As a result of the 2021 agreement, lawyers for the Ethiopian Airlines victims agreed not to seek punitive damages and Boeing did not challenge the lawsuits being filed in Illinois.

Source: Ethiopian News May 31, 2023 03:45 UTC