Relatives and friends of the 157 mortal victims of the crash of flight ET302 (a Boeing 737 MAX 8), a tragedy that occurred on the 10th of March 2019 in Ethiopia, have filed a petition at the US Treasury. In concrete, they have petitioned Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin to withhold financial assistance provided by the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, enacted by the Congress on March 27th, 2020) from Boeing unless it can be guaranteed that the money is conditioned upon aviation safety and a corporate governance reform. On a statement of March 17th, The Boeing Company, an American multinational corporation, announced that they would need at least $60 billion in aid to support the aerospace manufacturing industry in the pandemic crisis.

The petition was submitted on the 17th of April 2020, and was signed by 1,744 family members and friends of the 157 persons who lost their lives in the fatal plane accident. They demand that the CARES Act allotment of $17 billion set aside by the US Treasury for companies important to the national security of the country should not assist Boeing without further strings attached. The petition states that Boeing does not deserve financial assistance due to the mismanagement of the Company, resulting in the fatal crash of flight ET302, if it cannot be guaranteed that aviation safety and corporate governance is improved. The signatories want to make sure that Boeing does not receive federal bailout money until it can be assured that no other families will have to suffer such a tragical loss as they did. 

The families clearly feel that the safety of their passengers was not a priority to Boeing, as stated by Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of the firm Clifford Law Offices. He represents the families of 68 of the victims of the plane crash, and has been appointed lead counsel of the litigation that is currently pending in the U.S. District Court in Chicago. Several clients of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago – an American law firm internationally recognized for their practice in the area of personal injury law – have been among the signatories of the petition.