Families press for memorial at Ethiopian Airlines crash site

Four months after his younger sister Samya died in an Ethiopian Airlines crash with 156 others, Adnaan Stumo sifted soil through his fingers at the site where the plane came down. His hand closed around a human jawbone. "I just looked at these teeth and I tried to remember my sister's teeth," said the 26-year-old American, who handed over the remains to police for identification. Stumo is not alone in finding bones and other remains at the site, about 60 km east of Addis Ababa, where the Boeing 737-MAX slammed into the ground with such force that only fragments of those who died can be recovered. Many of the relatives are now pressing for the farmland where the plane crashed to be turned into a permanent memorial. "Out of respect to the dead, the crash site should be treated as a graveyard," said Adrian Toole, a Briton whose daughter Joanna died in the crash. Dozens of families are suing Boeing after preliminary reports into the crash in Ethiopia and the Lion Air incident in Indonesia, which killed 189 people, showed an automated system erroneously pointed the planes' noses down repeatedly after take-off. Relatives also want the process used to certify the new Boeing model examined by the US FAA. Some families will demonstrate outside the US DoT Tuesday, the six-month anniversary of the Ethiopian crash, to demand greater accountability by the US authorities, said Nadia Milleron, Samya's mother. Boeing has offered $100m to support victims' families, paid independently of any court cases. Legal heirs of the victims should receive about $145,000 each. "We continue to assess a variety of ways to assist the families and affected communities. This includes working to honor those lives lost. We'll provide updates as this work progresses," said Boeing spokesman Peter Pedraza, adding that the Ethiopian authorities were responsible for the site. Story has more background.<br/>