Boeing Reaches Tentative Settlement With Canadian Victim’s Family in 737 MAX Crash Lawsuits

Boeing has reached tentative settlements with a Canadian man who lost six family members in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash involving a 737 MAX jet, marking another step in resolving the long-running legal fallout from the deadly accidents. The agreements were reached late Tuesday, shortly after a jury had been selected in U.S. District Court in Chicago. The specific terms of the settlements were not disclosed.

The cases involved Manant Vaidya, whose parents, Pannagesh and Hansini Vaidya, and his sister, Kosha Vaidya, were among the 157 people killed when the aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. The lawsuits had been combined into a single trial. Kosha Vaidya’s husband, Preritkumar Dixit, and their two children, Ashka and Anushka Dixit, also died in the crash. Boeing previously settled lawsuits related to their deaths in 2025. According to Clifford Law Firm, which represented Vaidya, all six victims were residents of Canada.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed just five months after Lion Air Flight 610, another Boeing 737 MAX aircraft, plunged into the Java Sea. Investigations found that an automated flight control system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS), played a role in both crashes. Together, the two accidents claimed 346 lives and triggered a global crisis for Boeing.

The crashes led to a 20-month worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX, Boeing’s best-selling aircraft, and ultimately cost the U.S. planemaker more than $20 billion in compensation, legal settlements, and related expenses. Boeing has said it has now resolved more than 90% of the dozens of civil lawsuits tied to the two tragedies through settlements, a deferred prosecution agreement, and other payments.

In a statement, a Boeing spokesperson said the company remains “deeply sorry” for the losses suffered by families and reiterated its commitment to fully and fairly compensate victims. Boeing added that while most claims have been settled, families retain the right to pursue damages in court, and the company will continue efforts to resolve remaining cases.