Boeing offers $100m to families of 737 crash victims

By Umar Farooq

WASHINGTON (AA) - Boeing announced on Wednesday that it would be giving $100 million in funds to the families of the victims in the Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashes.

Both crashes involved Boeing’s 737 MAX planes.

"We at Boeing are sorry for the tragic loss of lives in both of these accidents and these lives lost will continue to weigh heavily on our hearts and on our minds for years to come," Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman and CEO, said in a statement.

"The families and loved ones of those on board have our deepest sympathies, and we hope this initial outreach can help bring them comfort," he added.

The company said the funds will "support education, hardship and living expenses" of the affected families.

On March 10, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET-302, which used the Boeing 737 MAX, crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa airport, killing all 157 on board.

The plane model was also involved in an October crash outside of Jakarta, Indonesia. All 189 people on board Lion Air flight JT610 were killed.

Many countries, including the U.S., Turkey, Russia and Iran, began to order the grounding of the plane model in their airspace following the crash.

Despite two deadly crashes in the space of five months, Boeing said they remained confident in the safety of the 737 MAX.

The company later issued an apology for the crashes in April.