Several family members of the 157 crash victims of a Boeing 737 MAX8 in Ethiopia attended a U.S. Senate hearing on June 18, 2024, when Boeing CEO David Calhoun testified before the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations regarding “Boeing’s Broken Safety Culture.” Families from various countries stated they wanted to hear Calhoun “face to face” on the current state of Boeing’s safety culture.
Chaired by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), the hearing was held at the Hart Senate Office Building, 120 Constitution Ave. NE, Washington, D.C., It marks the first time a Boeing senior executive testified before a congressional hearing since a door plug blew off a 737 MAX in January. Calhoun took over the helm of Boeing in January 2020 after the previous CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, was fired following two crashes of the Boeing 737 MAX8 that killed 346 people within five months five years ago. Calhoun is set to retire at the end of this year.
In a press release announcing the hearing, Blumenthal said, “Five years ago, Boeing made a promise to overhaul its safety practices and culture. That promise proved empty, and the American people deserve an explanation. I look forward to Mr. Calhoun’s testimony, which is a necessary step in meaningfully addressing Boeing’s failures, regaining public trust, and restoring the company’s central role in the American economy and national defense. Years of putting profits ahead of safety, stock price ahead of quality, and production speed ahead of responsibility has brought Boeing to this moment of reckoning, and its hollow promises can no longer stand.”
Blumenthal outlined in a four-page letter to Calhoun dated March 10, 2024, what he expected to hear from the CEO. The letter can be read here.
“I flew from England to Washington, D.C., to hear in person what the Boeing CEO has to say to the Senate and to the world about any safety improvements made at that corporation,” said Zipporah Kuria who lost her father in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 jet. “I also continue to press the U.S. government to hold Boeing and its corporate executives criminally responsible for the deaths of 346 people. We will not rest until we see justice.”
The families are awaiting word from the Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding its next steps after it found Boeing had violated a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) following several safety issues including a door plug blowing off a mid-air flight of a Boeing jet in January. A federal judge in Texas hearing the matter determined that the families are crime victims under the federal Crime Victims’ Rights Act.
The Boeing 737 MAX8 was in the news last week when Southwest Airlines released information regarding two incidents of this type of aircraft including where one plane in April plunged to within 400 feet of slamming into the Pacific Ocean on its way to Hawaii. There also was a report of a “Dutch roll” of a Boeing 737 MAX8, an unusual rolling motion of a Boeing 737 MAX8 on a flight on May 25 from Phoenix, Arizona to Oakland, California, with 175 passengers and six crew members on board. The Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly investigating both incidents.
The families who were expected to attend include:
-
- Chris and Clariss Moore, parents, and David Moore, brother, Canada. Lost Danielle, 24
- Catherine Berthet, France, lost her daughter, Camille Geoffroy, 24
- Zipporah Kuria, England, lost her father, Joseph Kuria, 55
- Michael Stumo and Nadia Milleron, parents, Massachusetts, and Adnaan Stumo, brother, lost Samya Rose Stumo, 24
For further information, please contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 cell.
Media:
- Use the Zoom link below to hear comments from the victims’ families before and after the hearing:
- https://cliffordlaw.zoom.us/j/5441430731
- Meeting ID: 544 143 0731
- One tap mobile
- +13126266799,,5441430731# US (Chicago)
- +13092053325,,5441430731# US
- Photos Before Hearing:
- Photos During Hearing:
- Footage of families before the Senate hearing:
- Footage of families reaction after Senate hearing: