A jury in Chicago awarded $49.5 million to the family of Samya Stumo, a 24-year-old nonprofit worker who was killed in the March 2019 crash of an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX.
The jury's award was divided into three specific components: $21 million for Ms. Stumo's experience on the fatal flight, $16.5 million for the family's loss of companionship, and $12 million for the family's grief.
This judgment represents the second jury verdict that has emerged from the March 2019 crash. In a separate trial last November, a jury ordered Boeing to pay more than $28 million to the family of a United Nations environmental worker who also died in that accident.
Ms. Stumo, who was 24 at the time of the crash, worked for the nonprofit ThinkWell and was traveling as a passenger on the flight from Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya.
Boeing did not contest liability in the Stumo case. Claims for punitive damages were dismissed against company executives and the manufacturers of plane components, according to the record from the trial. Attorneys for the Stumo family are pursuing appellate review to seek reinstatement of punitive damage claims.
"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 said on Thursday.
The company has faced dozens of civil lawsuits following two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 in Indonesia and Ethiopia, which together claimed 346 lives. U.S. courts and related legal processes have addressed many of those claims.
More than 90% of the civil lawsuits tied to the two accidents have been settled by the U.S. planemaker. Those resolutions have involved billions of dollars paid through lawsuits, a non-prosecution agreement, and other payments.
Separately, an appellate court in March upheld a ruling that approved the Justice Department's decision to dismiss a criminal case against Boeing, enabling the planemaker to avoid prosecution on a charge related to the two 737 MAX crashes.
Boeing had agreed to plead guilty in 2024 to a criminal fraud conspiracy charge, but after a change in administration the Justice Department in May 2025 reversed course and dropped the demand for a guilty plea. Under the resulting agreement, Boeing committed to pay an additional $444.5 million into a crash victims fund, in addition to a newly imposed $243.6 million fine and $455 million designated to bolster the company's compliance, safety, and quality programs.
Legal activity tied to the crashes continues to move through courts. While the company has resolved the vast majority of civil claims, individual families have maintained their right to pursue claims in court, and some are seeking further remedies through appeals.
Summary of the case
- A Chicago jury awarded $49.5 million to the family of Samya Stumo, dividing damages into amounts for flight experience, loss of companionship, and grief.
- This is the second jury verdict linked to the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX crash; an earlier November verdict awarded more than $28 million to another victim's family.
- Boeing has not contested liability in the Stumo case, but punitive damage claims were dismissed and are the subject of an appeal request by the family.
Context on legal resolutions
- Boeing has settled over 90% of civil suits related to the two crashes, paying billions through settlements, a non-prosecution agreement, and other measures.
- An appeals court upheld a ruling approving the Justice Department's decision to dismiss a criminal case; Boeing had earlier agreed to plead guilty in 2024 before the DOJ dropped the guilty plea demand in May 2025.
- Under agreements associated with the resolution, Boeing agreed to several payments: $444.5 million to a crash victims fund, a $243.6 million fine, and $455 million to support compliance, safety, and quality programs.