Boeing Raises Money For Families of 737 Max Crash Victims

Boeing is raising a $100 million fund dedicated to the families and communities of the people who died in the two 737 Max crashes.

The local governments and nonprofit organizations will also help with funds to “support education, hardship and living expenses for impacted families, community programs, and economic development in impacted communities.”

According to Boeing, which generated $101 billion in revenue last year, the funds are going to be available over “multiple years.” The company’s employees will be able to donate as well.

“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. The families and loved ones of those on board have our deepest sympathies, and we hope this initial outreach can help bring them comfort,” Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing’s chairman, and CEO said in a statement.

The donations come after the regulators discovered yet another problem in the 737 Max’s flight software. As a consequence, some US Airlines have already postponed their timelines for the reintegration of the 737 Max into their fleets and canceled thousands of flights.

The two deadly crashes were mostly the result of a piece of software designed to help stop the 737 Max plane from stalling. Unfortunately, the company didn’t properly reveal the software to airlines or their pilots.

Also, it seems like the software made presumptions by picking up readings from a single external sensor on the airplane. Therefore, the pilots were fighting a system they didn’t know was engaged.

According to a Boeing spokesman, the $100 million pledge is “independent of the lawsuits filed by the families and loved ones of those on board Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610.”

“We’ve been assessing a variety of ways to assist the families and communities impacted and determined that this is a constructive step that we can take now,” the spokesperson says. “As the investigations continue, Boeing is cooperating fully with the investigating authorities. We won’t comment on individual lawsuits directly.”