JAKARTA – On Friday, August 9, 2024, lawyers representing the families of the victims of the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash filed a very large compensation claim, amounting to US$58 billion (around Rp. 925 trillion), in response to a recent settlement between Boeing and US authorities.
The tragic accident in March 2019 involved a Boeing 737 Max aircraft, killing 149 passengers shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport. The accident revealed serious problems with the 737 Max aircraft, believed to be related to cost-cutting and poor oversight by Boeing.
This demand far exceeds the original $24.8 billion (Rp395.5 trillion) and aims to demand higher compensation that reflects the extent of the losses and suffering of the victim’s family. Lawyers for the victim’s family argued that Boeing’s current proposed settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, which includes an admission of guilt for criminal fraud and the payment of fines ranging from $243.6 million to $487 million (Rp3.8 trillion – Rp7.76 trillion), does not reflect the impact of the tragedy.
They asked the court to reject the existing deal and set a higher fine deemed appropriate given the impact of this terrible tragedy. Boeing, which has admitted responsibility for the crash, had previously admitted that the 737 Max aircraft was in an unsafe condition at the time of the crash.
This request confirms the dissatisfaction of the victim’s family in the face of inadequate compensation and underlines the need for greater justice and compensation commensurate with the losses suffered.
A similar accident also occurred with Lion Air. On October 29, 2018, a great tragedy occurred when Lion Air’s Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia. This accident killed all 189 people on board, including passengers and cabin crew.
The plane took off from Jakarta at 6:20 p.m. local time and lost contact with air traffic control about 13 minutes later. The plane crashed into the Java Sea, about 32 kilometers off the north coast of Jakarta. Search operations were immediately launched after reports of the loss of contact, but the fuselage and body parts were found at the crash site.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic and French versions are automatically generated by AI, so there may still be some inaccuracies in translation. Please always regard Indonesian as our main language. (System is powered by DigitalSiber.id)
