A Chicago jury awarded $29 million in damages to the family of Michael “Mick” Ryan, an Irish-born United Nations engineer who was killed in the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash that claimed 157 lives, a U.S. court spokesman said. The civil suit was brought by Ryan’s widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan, against Boeing.
Ryan was an engineer with the U.N. World Food Programme and one of the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash. The lawsuit sought accountability from Boeing for the loss of her husband rather than a private settlement.
Colleagues and U.N. tributes note Ryan’s extensive humanitarian work. He was involved in the Ebola response in Liberia and aided Rohingya refugees, and a U.N. memorial recognized his service in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Ethiopia. He was 39 at the time of the crash.
The case is among the final civil suits remaining against Boeing after two deadly 737 MAX accidents in 2018 and 2019 that together killed 346 people. Most claims against the company have been settled out of court for undisclosed amounts.
Naoise Ryan’s attorney, Steven Marks, said his client was “committed to seeking accountability and justice from a jury and not accepting money from Boeing directly.” Boeing has issued apologies over the crashes and acknowledged that anti-stall software was implicated in both accidents. The company did not immediately respond to a request for comment in this case.
In a related ruling in May, another Chicago jury awarded $49.5 million to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American killed on the same Ethiopian Airlines flight. The recent verdicts underscore ongoing legal and public scrutiny of Boeing’s role in the MAX disasters.
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-court-orders-boeing-to-pay-29-million-to-family-of-un-worker-killed-in-crash-11902655#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-08-13 05:58:00
