Archive · 13 Aug 2026
Boeing to Pay $29 Million to UN Crash Victim's Family
A big company that makes airplanes, called Boeing, has to pay $29 million because one of its planes crashed.
The crash happened in 2019, and the plane was a Boeing 737 MAX flying for Ethiopian Airlines.
Everyone on the plane died, including a man named Mick Ryan who worked to help people in need.
Mick helped people during the Ebola sickness in Liberia and also helped Rohingya refugees.
After he died, his wife Naoise took the airplane company to court.
People called a jury listened and decided the company should pay the family $29 million.
Boeing said it was sorry for the crashes and said a computer program that stops the plane from stalling may have caused problems.
This court case is one of the last ones left from two bad crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people in total.
Earlier, a different jury gave $49.5 million to the family of another person who died on the same flight.
A Chicago jury awarded $29 million in damages to the family of Michael 'Mick' Ryan, an Irish-born UN World Food Programme engineer killed in the 2019 Boeing 737 MAX crash.
The civil suit was brought by Ryan's widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan, whose attorney said she sought accountability from a jury rather than accepting money from Boeing directly.
The Ethiopian Airlines crash killed all 157 people on board; Ryan, 39 at the time, had worked during the Ebola crisis in Liberia, with Rohingya refugees, and in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Ethiopia.
The case is one of the final remaining civil suits against Boeing after the 2018 and 2019 MAX crashes, which together claimed 346 lives.
Boeing apologized for the crashes and acknowledged anti-stall software was implicated in both accidents; in May, a Chicago jury awarded $49.5 million to the family of fellow crash victim Samya Stumo.
- Who
- Michael 'Mick' Ryan, a 39-year-old Irish-born engineer with the UN World Food Programme, died in the crash; his widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan, brought the suit against Boeing.
- What
- A Chicago jury awarded $29 million in damages to Ryan's family over his death in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash.
- When
- The jury's award was announced Wednesday; the crash itself occurred in 2019.
- Where
- The verdict was delivered in Chicago; the fatal plane was operated by Ethiopian Airlines.
- Why
- Ryan's family sought accountability and justice from a jury rather than an out-of-court settlement, and Boeing had acknowledged that anti-stall software was implicated in the MAX crashes.
- Damages awarded
- $29 million
- Plaintiff
- Naoise Connolly Ryan, widow of Michael 'Mick' Ryan
- Victim
- Michael 'Mick' Ryan, UN World Food Programme engineer, age 39
- Crash
- Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX crash in 2019; all 157 people on board killed
- Jury location
- Chicago
- Previous related award
- $49.5 million to Samya Stumo's family in May
- MAX crash deaths (2018-2019)
- 346
- Boeing's acknowledgement
- Apologized; anti-stall software implicated in both crashes