THE widow of an Irishman who died in an Ethiopian Airlines crash has launched a civil case against Boeing in the US as she insists she “has to go after the truth”.
Dad-of-two Mick Ryan, from Lahinch, Co Clare, was among the 157 people killed when his flight fell from the sky just six minutes after take-off on March 10, 2019.
The plane, which was heading to Nairobi in Kenya, came down after leaving Bole International Airport in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.
The Boeing 737 was carrying 149 passengers from 33 countries as well as eight crew members.
Mick was part of an engineering unit with the UN’s World Food Programme.
His widow Naoise Connolly Ryan yesterday told how she wants justice for her husband and is demanding answers.
Crash victims’ families were also never consulted in regard to the investigations which took place.
CRASH PROBE
Naoise told RTE Radio One’s Today with Claire Byrne she wants to know “what they knew, who knew what, and when” after another similar crash five months before the one which claimed her husband’s life.
Each crash was associated with the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.
After the first crash, the Federal Aviation Administration had predicted 15 more crashes would happen because of MCAS during the lifetime of these planes.
When Boeing was using planes for American Airlines, they would have two sensors on them.
But when selling it overseas, they gave an option of one or two sensors.
Naoise said: “A minimum of two sensors installed is standard.
“These sensors are like little weather vanes … that’s what sends the information to the MCAS. If they’re faulty, they send incorrect information and MCAS kicks in and takes over the plane, so the pilots have no control.”
Boeing has returned to service after being slapped with a $2.5bn fine, but she added: “Nobody has been held to account.”
Telling of the devastation Mick’s loss has caused her,…