A jury awarded $29 million to the family of an Irish United Nations worker who died when a Boeing 737 Max fatally crashed in Ethiopia in 2019.

Michael “Mick” Ryan was one of 157 people on board the fatal flight, the second of two deadly crashes in a matter of months involving Boeing’s then-new plane. In October 2018, a Boeing 737 Max crashed off the coast of Indonesia, killing 189 people.

The trial — which began Aug. 5 in a Chicago federal court and ended Wednesday — resolves one of the few remaining cases filed against Boeing by the families who lost loved ones in the Ethiopia crash. It is the third time Boeing has faced a civil trial related to the crashes.

Boeing reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to avoid criminal prosecution and has reached confidential settlements in dozens of lawsuits brought by victims’ families.

In the first case that went to trial, taking place over a week in November, a jury awarded the family of Shikha Garg more than $28 million in damages. In May, a jury awarded the family of Samya Rose Stumo $49.5 million in damages.

Steven Marks, a lawyer with Podhurst Orseck who is representing Ryan’s widow, Naoise Connolly Ryan, said the verdict “represents an important measure of accountability and justice.”

“While no financial award can ever replace a life or undo the profound loss his family has endured, we are grateful that the jury carefully considered the evidence and reached this decision,” Marks said in a statement.

The trials and settlements so far have focused on how much compensation to grant each family who lost a loved one in the crashes. As part of a legal agreement reached between Boeing and most of the victims’ families in 2021, Boeing admitted sole responsibility for the Ethiopian Airlines crash and the families agreed not to pursue punitive damages.

After the two fatal crashes, investigators determined that a faulty software system on the Max had repeatedly forced the plane’s nose down in both instances, leaving pilots unable to control the aircraft.

A Boeing spokesperson said Friday the company is “deeply sorry to all who lost loved ones on Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302.”

“While we have resolved nearly all of these claims through settlements, families are entitled to pursue their claims through the court process, and we respect their right to do so,” the spokesperson said.

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