Boeing opens $500m compensation fund for 737 MAX crash victims’ families

Planemaker Boeing has opened a $500m (£387m) compensation fund, allowing relatives of victims killed in two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes to claim nearly $1.45m each.

The fund is part of a $2.5bn settlement with the Justice Department reached in January, Reuters reported. After being charged with fraud, Boeing agreed to pay $500m to compensate the heirs, relatives and beneficiaries of the 346 passengers who died in the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Following the deadly crashes, civil aviation authorities around the world grounded the 737 MAX on safety fears.

The Justice Department and Boeing did not immediately comment.

Each eligible family will be paid on a rolling basis as claim forms are submitted and completed, similar to a how a previous $50m fund for the same families operated in 2019.

The settlement also included Boeing being fined of over $240m and paying $1.7bn in compensation to airlines over fraud conspiracy charges related to the plane’s flawed design.

This allowed Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution but victims’ relatives are still able to challenge the company through civil litigation.

While most Lion Air lawsuits have been settled, Boeing still faces numerous lawsuits from families of the Ethiopian crash.

The Justice Department said in January, “Boeing’s employees chose the path of profit over candor by concealing material information from the FAA concerning the operation of its 737 Max airplane and engaging in an effort to cover up their deception.”

In December, the US Congress previously ordered a major overhaul of how the Federal Aviation Administration certifies new airplanes and directed an independent review of Boeing’s safety culture.