A $ 500 million victims’ compensation fund for the families of the 346 killed in two Boeing 737 MAX crashes was opened Monday as part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice.
According to Reuters, the company that manufactures and markets aircraft agreed to pay to compensate the heirs, relatives and beneficiaries of the passengers who died on Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 in 2018 and 2019, respectively. .
Each eligible family will receive nearly $ 1.45 million and the money will be paid out on an ongoing basis, as claim forms are submitted and completed, fund managers Ken Feinberg and Camille Biros said in a joint statement.
In December 2020, a Boeing 737 MAX took off from Miami to New York on the first commercial flight of this model in the United States almost two years after its global stoppage due to the two plane crashes.
American Airlines flight 718 took off from Miami International Airport with a hundred passengers on board, marking the return of this aircraft since March 10, 2019.
US authorities authorized the return of the 737 MAX on November 18 after months of inspection and revelations about the development and certification process of the aircraft, which had accounted for the bulk of Boeing’s earnings before the accident.
While the European regulator has given preliminary approval, but after the 737 MAX crisis, the company has run into a worse one, that of the coronavirus, which has decimated international air traffic.
The MAX model was the best seller before it was suspended by commercial aviation regulators after the accidents.
With information from Reuters
