Several family members who lost loved ones in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max on March 10, 2019 in Ethiopia are asking Senate leaders to testify before a hearing of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation scheduled for June 17 in Washington, D.C.
Michael Stumo, father of Samya Rose Stumo, of Massachusetts, Paul Njoroge, who lost his wife, three young children and mother in law, as well as several other family members from around the world sent individual letters today (Monday, June 8, 2020) requesting to testify to Committee Chair U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Ranking Member U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) as part of this Committee’s first hearing on the matter. (Two of these letters are attached.)
The Committee announced recently that it has requested FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson to testify at this hearing in a June 2 press release discussing a new bill, The Aviation Safety Bill, introduced by Wicker. The bill would, according to Wicker, “improve aviation safety by codifying recommendations from a number of reviews and investigations related to the 737 MAX crashes.”
Stumo wrote Wicker, “We as families have conducted the investigation that this committee has not yet done. The members of this committee should be permitted to hear my testimony on these issues, with an opportunity for questions, rather than merely hearing from Administrator Dickson. The airline industry relies on passengers or else they will fail. Passengers are a key part of this discussion and to exclude a representative from the passenger side is shortsighted and negligent for this committee when conducting a full-scale hearing.”
Stumo and Njoroge go on to say that they and other family members who lost loved ones in that tragic crash in Ethiopia have met with numerous elected and appointed government officials including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao.
Njoroge wrote the Committee, “Families of ET302 have requested Chairman Wicker and many members of the Committee to look beyond the testimonies of FAA’s staff and Boeing staff, and allow family members, outside experts, and whistle-blowers to testify at hearings. To make sure that the FAA recaptures its authority as an oversight body instead of a ‘promoter of industry.’”
All 157 people on board, including Stumo’s 24-year-old daughter Samya Rose Stumo, and Carolyne Karanja, wife of Paul Njoroge, and his three young children Ryan, Kellie and Rubi, age six months, the youngest on the plane, perished shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on Flight ET302.
For a complete copy of the letters sent June 8, 2020, please see attachments.
Stumo and Njoroge, along with 66 other families who lost loved ones on that aircraft, are represented by Clifford Law Offices in Chicago. Founder and senior partner Robert A. Clifford has been appointed Lead Counsel in the consolidated litigation in federal district court in Chicago.
For further information, please contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell).