Families of Britons killed in 2019 Boeing 737 Max crash in Ethiopia fight for unlawful killing verdict as inquest begins tomorrow
- Flight ET302 killed 157 passengers after it crashed outside Addis Ababa in 2019
The families of Britons who were killed four years ago when a Boeing 737 Max airliner crashed in Ethiopia are seeking a verdict of unlawful killing at their inquests.
British humanitarian workers Sam Pegram, 25, and Oliver Vick, 45, and sustainability campaigner Joanna Toole, 36, were among 157 passengers who died in March 2019 after the airliner crashed outside the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
Lawyers for the families will be seeking a verdict of unlawful killing at the inquest due to begin in Horsham on Monday, according to the BBC.
Mr Pegram’s mother Deborah told the broadcaster: ‘Sam was just a joy to have in your life. Right from when he was a little boy, he wanted to help people.’
She said her son, from Lancashire, ‘just made our lives better, really… and he’s left a really big hole’.
Joanna Toole, 36, died onboard a passenger flight from Ethiopia to Kenya in March 2019
Pictured: British humanitarian worker Sam Pegram, 25, who was among the 157 people killed
Wreckage is piled at the crash scene of Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302
Flight ET302, a passenger flight from Ethiopia to Kenya, crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa.
It was the second deadly incident involving the new model of Boeing passenger jet in less than five months, prompting concerns over its safety.
READ MORE: Boeing is REFUSING to pay out more cash to families of victims of its killer 737-MAX
Ms Toole’s father Adrian sees the inquest as a chance to express the loss which has been caused by her death in a formal inquiry.
He told the BBC: ‘For me, it represents what may be my only opportunity to actually talk about Joanna to what is effectively a captive audience.
‘And what I hope to point out is what has been lost with Joanna’s death.
‘To her partner, Paul, to me, and to the international sustainability effort.’
In March Boeing argued it should not have to pay more money to families of the people who died in a 2019 crash involving its 737-MAX jet, after insisting the victims died instantly and therefore did not suffer before they perished.
The argument was aired by the company’s attorneys last month in documents filed in Chicago federal court, days before relatives of the 157 victims descended on Boeing’s Virginia headquarters for the four-year anniversary of the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
Investigators with the U.S. National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) look over debris at the crash site of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302
Ethiopian Federal policemen stand at the scene of the crash
People carry a coffin during the burial ceremony of Paul Karanja’s wife and three children who died in the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-MAX aircraft
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