More than six years after the tragic crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, the first civil trial seeking damages from Boeing is finally moving forward in Chicago. For the families of the 157 people who perished on that March morning in 2019, this moment carries the weight of years of grief, unanswered questions, and a quest for justice that has stretched across continents and courtrooms.
Boeing, the American aerospace giant, has already settled most of the dozens of wrongful death lawsuits filed after the disaster. However, as reported by the Associated Press and ABC News, two cases remain unresolved and are set to be heard before a federal jury as soon as Tuesday, November 4, 2025. The trial, presided over by U.S. District Judge Jorge Luis Alonso, is not about whether Boeing is liable—on that front, the company has already accepted full responsibility for the Ethiopian crash as well as a similar 737 Max disaster off the coast of Indonesia less than five months earlier, which claimed 189 lives. Instead, the eight-person jury’s sole task is to determine how much Boeing should pay to the families of two victims: Mercy Ndivo, a 28-year-old mother from Kenya, and Shikha Garg, a 36-year-old United Nations consultant from India.
The facts of the case are as harrowing as they are familiar to anyone who has followed the saga of the 737 Max. According to the Associated Press, the ill-fated flight took off from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and, within minutes, encountered catastrophic problems. Pilots were immediately bombarded by alarms; a device known as a stick shaker vibrated the captain’s control column, warning that the plane might stall and fall from the sky. For six agonizing minutes, the crew fought to keep the aircraft aloft, but ultimately, their efforts were in vain.
Mercy Ndivo and her husband were returning from London, where she had just earned a master’s degree in accountancy. Their daughter, just an infant at the time, is now almost eight years old. Ndivo’s parents have brought the lawsuit against Boeing on her behalf, seeking not just compensation but recognition of the profound loss their family—and so many others—suffered. Shikha Garg, meanwhile, was en route to Nairobi to attend a United Nations environmental assembly. Like many on board, she was a person dedicated to public service, and she is survived by her husband and parents.
Boeing, for its part, has offered public contrition. In a statement issued Monday, November 3, 2025, the company said it is “deeply sorry” to the families of the 346 passengers and crew who lost their lives in the two crashes. “We made an upfront commitment to fully and fairly compensate the families of those who were lost in the accidents, and have accepted legal responsibility for the accidents in these proceedings,” Boeing stated, as reported by ABC News. The company also emphasized its respect for the families’ right to pursue their claims in court.
Yet, the path to this week’s trial has been anything but straightforward. As ABC News detailed, the two cases now proceeding before Judge Alonso were originally among five that could have gone to trial. However, due to the ongoing U.S. government shutdown, only two can move forward at this time. Out-of-court settlements remain a possibility—even after the jury is empaneled and evidence is presented—but so far, mediation efforts have failed.
Robert Clifford, a Chicago attorney representing many of the victims’ families, has been outspoken about the challenges of reaching a resolution. “Boeing accepted full responsibility for the senseless and preventable loss of these lives, yet they have not been mediating in good faith to come to a resolution for these devastated families,” Clifford said, according to both the Associated Press and ABC News. “We are determined to achieve justice for every one of them.”
The details of previous settlements between Boeing and the families have remained confidential, a common practice in high-profile corporate litigation. According to lawyers involved in the case, 14 other lawsuits are still unresolved, highlighting the long tail of legal and emotional fallout from the crashes.
Beyond the courtroom, the Boeing 737 Max disasters have sparked a reckoning within the aviation industry and among regulators worldwide. As the Associated Press and ABC News both reported, U.S. prosecutors charged Boeing with conspiracy to commit fraud, accusing the company of deceiving government regulators about a flight-control system it had developed for the 737 Max. Investigations revealed that in both crashes, the software—relying on faulty readings from a single sensor—repeatedly pitched the nose of the plane downward, overwhelming the pilots and making recovery impossible.
The legal consequences for Boeing have been significant, but perhaps not as severe as some critics would like. The Justice Department has asked a federal judge in Texas to dismiss the felony charge against Boeing and approve a deal that would allow the company to avoid prosecution. If approved, the agreement would require Boeing to pay or invest another $1.1 billion in fines, compensation for victims’ families, and internal safety and quality improvements.
For the families in this week’s trial, however, the focus is squarely on the human cost. The jury will hear about Mercy Ndivo’s aspirations and her young daughter’s loss, about Shikha Garg’s dedication to global environmental causes, and about the moments of terror that unfolded in the cockpit as alarms blared and the pilots struggled for control. The process is expected to be emotionally charged and, for the families involved, deeply personal.
It’s a stark reminder of how, even after years of investigations, regulatory reforms, and corporate apologies, the struggle for accountability continues. The trial also highlights the broader issue of corporate responsibility in the face of preventable tragedy. As Robert Clifford put it, the pursuit of justice for these families is not just about financial compensation—it’s about ensuring that such a disaster never happens again.
As the jury in Chicago begins its deliberations, the world will be watching—not just to see how much Boeing is ordered to pay, but to gauge whether the legal system can provide a measure of closure for those who lost the most. For now, the families of Mercy Ndivo and Shikha Garg are finally getting their day in court, hoping that their stories will be heard and their loved ones remembered—not just as victims of a corporate failure, but as individuals whose lives mattered.
