Family of Irish UN worker killed in 2019 Boeing 737 Max crash awarded €25m

Mick Ryan, a father of two from Clare, was among those killed when the Boeing 737 Max crashed in Ethiopia

Mick Ryan, a father of two young children, died on March 10, 2019, when a defective Boeing 737 Max crashed minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

A jury in Chicago has awarded the family of an Irish UN employee who died in a 2019 Boeing 737 Max crash €25m ($29m) in damages, according to a US court spokesperson.

Mick Ryan, a father of two young children, died on March 10, 2019, when a defective Boeing 737 Max crashed minutes after take-off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The civil suit was brought against Boeing by his widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan.

Mr Ryan, deputy chief engineer at the World Food Programme, was among 157 people killed in the crash.

Originally from Clare, the 39-year-old had been living in Cork before relocating to Rome. He had been working in Liberia with Rohingya refugees during the Ebola crisis.

The Ethiopian Airlines 737 Max crashed soon after takeoff from Addis Ababa for Nairobi. It was the second 737 Max disaster in six months after a Lion Air plane in Indonesia crashed in October 2018, killing 189 people.

Boeing accepted responsibility for Ethiopian Airways flight 302 losing control shortly after take-off.

The plane manufacturer admitted that its software was to blame for ET 302’s loss of control and destruction, and that the 737-Max was in an “unsafe condition” to fly.

Boeing’s 737-Max were recertified to start flying again in 2021.

More to follow...

 - additional reporting from The Guardian and Associated Press