Jury orders Boeing to pay $49.5 million to family of 737 MAX crash victim

A federal jury in Chicago awarded $49.5 million in damages on May 13, 2026, to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old American woman who died in a 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash in Ethiopia.

The verdict follows a trial that began on May 11, 2026. According to court documents, the jury deliberated for approximately two hours before determining that the total damages suffered by the plaintiff amounted to $49.5 million.

Breakdown of Compensatory Damages

Because Boeing had already admitted responsibility for the crash, the trial focused exclusively on the amount of compensatory damages the company owed to the estate of Samya Stumo.

The jury’s award included $21 million for the experience Stumo endured during the fatal flight and $16.5 million for the family’s loss of her companionship.

Attorneys Shanin Specter and Elizabeth Crawford of the law firm Kline & Specter, who represented Stumo’s estate, stated that they were gratified by the opportunity to try the compensatory damages case.

Context of the Ethiopian Airlines Crash

Samya Stumo was traveling to Kenya for her first assignment with ThinkWell, a public health non-governmental organization dedicated to increasing access to health care across Asia, and Africa.

Stumo was aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019. The aircraft, a Boeing 737 Max 8, crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, resulting in the deaths of everyone on board. The crash claimed a total of 157 lives.

The tragedy occurred approximately four and a half months after a similar accident involving the same Boeing model. In that earlier incident, a Lion Air flight crashed in Indonesia, killing 189 people.

Following these two crashes, which killed 346 people in total, Boeing was required to ground all 737 MAX aircraft for nearly two years to implement necessary system upgrades.

“Our daughter got on the plane completely trusting. She was going on her first assignment in East Africa for an NGO which works on healthcare. And she never dreamed that there would be any problem with the plane itself, and there was a huge problem.”

Nadia Milleron, mother of Samya Stumo, in 2019

Legal and Financial Settlements

While many families of the crash victims reached confidential settlements with Boeing, the Stumo family was unable to reach an agreement prior to the May 2026 trial.

Boeing previously faced a criminal fraud charge related to the 737 MAX crashes. Federal prosecutors agreed to drop the case after Boeing agreed to a settlement that included more than $1.1 billion in fines and an additional $445 million in compensation for the families of the victims.

In a statement regarding the litigation, Boeing expressed regret for the losses associated with both flights.

“We are deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. While we have resolved nearly all of these claims through settlements, families are entitled to pursue their claims through the court process, and we respect their right to do so.”

Boeing

The verdict in the Stumo case resolves one of the final remaining legal actions stemming from the two 737 MAX disasters.