Thirty-two Kenyan families who lost relatives in the 2019 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash are set to receive a combined Sh11.3 billion in additional compensation.
The payout follows a Non-Prosecution Agreement (NPA) arrived at between Boeing and the US Department of Justice (DoJ) in 2025, which saw the US-based plane maker avoid charges of criminal liability
The payment amounts to about Sh353 million per family, on top of approximately Sh188 million that each family had reportedly received earlier.
Flight ET302 was operated by Ethiopian Airlines using a Boeing 737 MAX 8.
The aircraft crashed near Bishoftu, Ethiopia, on March 10, 2019, about six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa for Nairobi.
All 157 people on board, including 149 passengers and eight crew members, died. The victims came from more than 30 countries, with 32 Kenyan nationals among those killed.
The latest compensation is linked to legal proceedings against Boeing in the United States. Families of the victims have pursued claims through US courts, with settlements reached over several years.
The disaster was one of two fatal crashes involving the Boeing 737 MAX 8 within five months. Lion Air Flight 610 crashed off Indonesia in October 2018, killing all 189 people on board.
Investigations into both crashes focused on the aircraft’s Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, or MCAS, which could automatically push the aircraft’s nose down when it detected certain flight conditions.
The two disasters led to the global grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and intensified scrutiny of Boeing’s aircraft development, safety systems and certification process.
The additional payment would bring the reported compensation for the 32 Kenyan families to approximately Sh17.3 billion, based on the stated average amounts.
In 2021, Boeing had assured that families of the victims would be compensated.
"Boeing is committed to ensuring that all families who lost loved ones in the accidents are fully and fairly compensated for their loss," the plane maker said in a statement.
"By accepting responsibility, Boeing's agreement with the families allows the parties to focus their efforts on determining the appropriate compensation for each family."
In January 2021, Boeing agreed to a deferred prosecution agreement with the US Department of Justice, including $2.5bn (£1.9bn) in fines and compensation stemming from the 737 Max crashes, including the Lion Air crash in October 2018.