Family of U.S. woman killed in Ethiopia crash sues Boeing

The family of an American woman who was killed in the Ethiopia Airlines crash filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Boeing on Thursday, accusing the aircraft maker of "putting profits over safety."

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Chicogo by the family of Samya Stumo, 24. She was on a work trip when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 flying a Boeing 737 Max 8 jet crashed on March 10, killing all 157 people aboard.

In the complaint, the family claimed that Boeing installed "the defective flight control system suspected to be the cause of both crashes," referring to a similar crash of Lion Air in Indonesia in October besides the Ethiopia air crash.

The family accused Boeing of "negligence, carelessness, gross negligence, recklessness and/or otherwise wrongful acts and/or omissions," which they believe caused the death of Stumo.

"This was not an accident. This could have been prevented and should have been prevented," her sobbing mother Nadia Milleron told a press conference in Chicago, where Boeing is headquartered.

"Those in charge of creating and selling this plane did not treat Samya as they would their own daughters," she added.

The family also sued in the same case the Ethiopian Airlines and Rosemount Aerospace Inc, the U.S. company that provided Boeing with the faulty sensor, which reportedly caused the doomed flight to nose down.

In a statement released on Thursday, Boeing President and CEO Dennis Muilenburg said "We at Boeing are sorry for the lives lost in the recent 737 Max accidents. These tragedies continue to weigh heavily on our hearts and minds, and we extend our sympathies to the loved ones of the passengers and crew on board Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302."

Boeing Commercial Airplanes President and CEO Kevin McAllister said in a separate statement that Boeing "will take any and all additional steps necessary to enhance the safety of our aircraft."

(CGTN)