US opens $500m fund for relatives of Boeing 737 MAX victims

A $500m US fund to compensate relatives of 346 people killed in two fatal Boeing 737 MAX crashes has opened, the claim administrators said Tuesday. The fund, which opened on Monday, is part of a settlement with the US Justice Department. Boeing in January agreed to pay $500m to compensate the heirs, relatives and beneficiaries of the passengers who died in Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2018 and 2019. Each eligible family will receive nearly $1.45m and money will be paid on a rolling basis as claim forms are submitted and completed, said administrators Ken Feinberg and Camille Biros in a joint statement. Families have until October 15 to complete claim forms. The Justice Department and Boeing declined to comment. The fund is part of a $2.5b Justice Department settlement reached in January with Boeing after prosecutors charged the company with fraud over the certification of the 737 MAX following a Lion Air crash on Oct. 29, 2019 and an Ethiopian Airlines disaster on March 10, 2019.<br/>