Boeing settles with one plaintiff in 737 MAX crash trial

Boeing reached a last-minute settlement on one of two lawsuits in this week's trial in Chicago over the 2019 737 MAX crash that killed 157 people, attorneys announced Wednesday.

The first civil trial over the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash was set to begin in earnest after attorneys on Tuesday finalized jury selection.

But opening statements were pushed back after plaintiffs attorney Robert Clifford announced that one of the two plaintiffs reached an agreement with Boeing.

"Our clients are very appreciative of the court allowing them to use its resources to achieve the justice they required," said Clifford, adding that the amount of the settlement is confidential.

Plaintiffs in the settled case are relatives of Kenyan-born Mercy Ndivo, who died in the crash aged 28 along with her husband, leaving behind a daughter and her parents.

During Wednesday's proceeding, Ndivo's father, Frederick Ndivo, approached US District Judge Jorge Alonso and expressed gratitude. Ndivo was joined in the courtroom by his wife and eldest daughter.

"We are so grateful," Ndivo said in court. "We wish the legal system of the United States will continue upholding the rights of the people...the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

The lawsuits stem from the March 10, 2019 flight that went down six minutes after departing Addis Ababa for Nairobi, killing all 157 people on board.

Family members of 155 victims filed lawsuits between April 2019 and March 2021, alleging wrongful death and negligence, among other claims.

Alonso has been splitting the cases into groups with five or six plaintiffs at a time. In prior rounds, the judge has canceled the proceeding after all the cases in the group settled.

The litigation centers on how to calculate monetary damages owed by Boeing to plaintiffs.

In addition to Ndivo, Clifford reached settlements with relatives of two other victims, Abdul Jalil Qaid Ghazi Hussein, 38, the father of seven children and Nasrudin Mohammed, 30, who was pregnant with a fourth child. 

Opening statements were underway early Wednesday afternoon on the remaining case involving relatives of Shikha Garg, 36, of New Delhi.

Garg had been a consultant for the United Nations Development Program who had been traveling to Nairobi for a UN Environmental Assembly.