Boeing to pay kin of victims killed in 737 MAX crashes

Boeing to pay kin of victims killed in 737 MAX crashes

VICTORVILLE (U.S.), March 28, 2019 (Xinhua) -- A man works on a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max aircraft at the Southern California Logistics Airport, also known as Victorville Airport, in Victorville, California, the United States, on March 27, 2019. A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 Max, on its way to Victorville, where Southwest Airlines is storing the airplanes, to be grounded, made an emergency landing at the Orlando International Airport (OIA) Tuesday afternoon, authorities said. (Xinhua/Z

Washington, Sep 24 (IANS) Boeing has announced that it will start paying a $144,500 compensation to each family of the more than 340 victims who were killed in two plane crashes that involved the 737 MAX aircraft.

The announcement came on Monday and the money comes from Boeing's $50 million financial assistance fund, the BBC reported.

The fund has started accepting claims, which must be submitted before 2020.

But lawyers for the victims' families, many of whom are pursuing the company in court, have dismissed the fund as a publicity stunt.

"$144,000 doesn't come close to compensating any of our families or any of the families," said Nomaan Husain, a Texas-based attorney who is representing 15 families.

The 737 MAX has been globally grounded since March, as investigators evaluate the airplane's safety following the fatal crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which claimed the lives of 346 people.

Boeing in July had pledged $100 million to families and communities affected by the crashes.

The company later said half would be reserved for direct payments to families, with the other half set aside for education and development programmes in affected communities.

--IANS

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