Civil trial against Boeing over deadly crash begins in Chicago on Monday

CHICAGO - The civil trial against Boeing is set to begin in Chicago on Monday. Boeing took a plea deal in 2024, and admitted to defrauding the federal government, after two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people. 

But this trial will focus on the 2019 crash in Ethiopia that claimed three generations of Manat Vaidya's loved ones.

What we know:

Vaidya's lawyer says it's about holding Boeing accountable. Clifford Law in Chicago is representing Manat Vaidya, who filed a federal lawsuit against Boeing for the deaths of his mother, father and sister who were passengers on the Boeing 737 Max plane that crashed shortly after takeoff in Ethiopia on March 10, 2019.

The family was living in Canada and traveling during spring break to visit family and friends.

All 157 people died on that flight, including three of Vaidya's nieces and nephew, one of whom was nine months old. The children are not part of this case. 

Since Boeing has already pleaded guilty to defrauding the FAA and paid billions in fines, the family's lawyer, Robert Clifford, said the case is now about how much the jury will award this family, who will never be the same.

"The court allows us to tell the jury that this crash was preventable, it was avoidable, and it was senseless," Clifford said. "And Boeing stumbles over itself to say how sorry they are, but they never once will acknowledge what they're sorry about."

For this family, Clifford said this trial is their only shot at accountability. 

"There are families here who are stuck on anger," he said. "They'll never, ever get over what happened. And that's particularly true when they know that it was preventable." 

A Boeing spokesperson issued this statement on the case Wednesday evening: 

"We are deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302. We made an upfront commitment to fully and fairly compensate the families of those who were lost, and have accepted legal responsibility for the accidents in these proceedings.  While we have resolved the vast majority of these claims through settlements, families are also entitled to pursue their claims through damages trials in court, and we respect their right to do so.  We will continue to work to resolve the claims of the family members impacted by these accidents."

What's next:

Clifford said he expects jury selection to happen Monday at 8:30 a.m., with opening statements starting as early as Tuesday.