The family of a UN worker killed in the Ethiopian Airlines’ Flight 302 crash are taking legal action against Boeing in the US, claiming there was a “catalogue of serious failures”.
Joanna Toole, 36, was one of seven British passengers on board the Boeing 737 MAX when it crashed on March 10, shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, killing all 157 passengers and crew.
The crash led to the worldwide grounding of all Boeing 737 MAX 8s after another crash five months earlier.
Her family are now taking action against Boeing and Rosemount Aerospace, the manufacturer of the aircraft’s Angle of Attack Sensors, in what is believed to be the first court case arising from the tragedy.
Her father Adrian, from Exmouth, Devon, said: “Joanna was a wonderfully warm and inspirational person who dedicated her life to the welfare of animals.
"The last few months trying to accept her death in such sudden and unexpected circumstances have been incredibly difficult.
“Since the crash happened we learn more and more about the Boeing 737 MAX and its problems.
“Neither Joanna nor her family knew that there were faults in the design of this plane; with the technology and expertise available to the builders, passengers should have been able to trust that the flight would be without incident.
“We were stunned to learn about the apparent technical issues with the aircraft which was a new and supposedly state-of-the-art plane.
“Nothing can ever bring Joanna back but we hope that by continuing to push for answers about what went wrong, justice will be done and flight safety improved for others in the future”
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Ms Toole was on board the plane while working for the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
She was travelling to the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, when the accident occurred.
Specialist aviation lawyers at Irwin Mitchell, working with colleagues in the US, have now commenced court proceedings in Chicago, Illinois on behalf of the Toole family.
Clive Garner, Partner and head of the Aviation Law team at Irwin Mitchell representing Joanna’s family, said: “While the official accident investigation continues, the exact cause or causes of the Ethiopian Airlines disaster remains unknown.
“Despite this sufficient evidence is now available to enable proceedings to be commenced against both Boeing and Rosemount Aerospace.
“These proceedings have now been filed in the Federal Court in Chicago.
“The proceedings involve allegations of a catalogue of serious failures by Boeing. The allegations include criticism of Boeing’s decision to fit new, larger engines to the existing 737 airframe.
“These engines altered the aircraft’s handling characteristics and, in particular, caused the nose of the aircraft to pitch upwards in the period following take off, increasing the risk of an engine stall.
“To reduce this risk Boeing introduced a new software system called MCAS which automatically pitched the nose of the aircraft downwards when the Angle of Attack Sensors fitted to the aircraft signalled that the angle of the aircraft was too steep.
“However, it is also alleged that the MCAS software was faulty and it is now being re-designed.
Ethiopian Airlines plane crash
“Rosemount Aerospace is also a defendant in the proceedings. Rosemount manufactured the aircraft’s Angle of Attack Sensors, at least one of which appears to have been faulty.
“This is a small selection of the list of allegations we are making against Boeing and Rosemount Aerospace and the entire fleet of MAX 8 aircraft are still grounded World-wide pending remedial work to satisfy the Federal Aviation Authority and other Regulators who have banned the continued use of the aircraft in their airspace.”
In a recent interview, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenberg refused to accept that the design of the MCAS system was flawed, stating instead that Boeing “followed exactly the steps in our design and certification processes that consistently produce safe airplanes”.
But the aviation giant has acknowledged that improvements to the MCAS software have been made and are to be installed.