American Family Files Wrongful Lawsuit Against Airline After Crash in Ethiopia

Lawsuit Against AirlineUpdated 1:18 PM ET, Thu April 4, 2019

A 737 Boeing Max 8 jet shortly crashed after takeoff from Addis Abba, killing all 157 passengers on board. The crash also followed in another collision which took place in Indonesia that also involved a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet. The plane has since been withheld until the airline releases a software fix. 

A preliminary report in the crash of the Boeing Max 8 (which crashed six minutes after the take-off) reported that a bird hit the attack sensor (a vane that sits outside the cockpit) or possibly a foreign object, assuming that the sensor took damage at take-off that caused the second 737 Max Crash in five months. The report also said that the plane’s crew performed all appropriate procedures by Boeing. 

Thursday, lawyers have filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Chicago against Boeing Airlines on behalf of a 24-year-old woman who died in last month’s Ethiopia Airlines crash. 

Samya Stumo, who is originally from Sheffield, Massachusetts, was on a work trip with ThinkWell, the Washington D.C. health systems development organization when she suddenly was killed in the plane crash on March 10. Stumo was also a niece of Ralph Nader, who is the consumer rights advocate and past presidential candidate. 

A press conference was held Thursday morning by attorneys with Samya’s parents and her brother. It is the first lawsuit filed against Boing on behalf of an American who died in the crash.

“As somebody who has lost the dearest person in my life, I want her death not to be in vain. I don’t want anybody else to die,” said Samya’s mother Nadia Milleron. 

The complaint against Boeing accuses the airline of negligence, breach of warranty, strict liability, failure to warn and civil conspiracy. A separate claim will also be filed against the FAA, attorneys for Stumo’s family mentioned.