Families of 32 Kenyans killed in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash are set to receive a combined $87.3 million from Boeing-linked victim compensation funds, nearly seven years after the disaster, according to the law firm representing them.
Chicago-based Ribbeck Law Chartered said Boeing would begin making final payments following the conclusion of legal proceedings in the US. The firm said the Kenyan families’ allocation totals $87,343,352.60, averaging about $2.73 million per victim across the compensation funds.
“We have now concluded the legal work on behalf of our clients in the United States, Africa, the Middle East and Asia,” Manuel von Ribbeck of the firm said.
The payments are linked to compensation funds established under Boeing’s agreements with the US Justice Department over two fatal 737 MAX crashes.
A 2025 non-prosecution agreement required Boeing to provide an additional $444.5 million for victims, on top of a $500 million fund established under a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.
The latest $444.5 million fund is to be divided equally among the estates of the 346 people killed in the two crashes. Boeing also agreed to invest $455 million in compliance, safety and quality programs.
Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on March 10, 2019, about six minutes after departing Addis Ababa for Nairobi.
All 157 passengers and crew members from more than 30 nationalities were killed, including 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese and eight Americans, with Kenya recording the largest number of victims by nationality.
