Federal Judge Jorge Alonso, who will preside over the trial due to start in federal court in Chicago next month, said that Boeing’s attorney had argued that under the law “evidence of pre-impact fright and terror is not relevant,” because “the evidence tends to show that the passengers had no time to experience conscious pain and suffering after injury because they died immediately upon impact.
One of the attorneys for the Ethiopian Airlines crash victims praised the judge’s ruling. “This is a significant and strong win for the families,” said Robert Clifford. “The judge will allow them to push forward the claims of emotional distress experienced by their loved ones who needlessly died at the hands of a company that puts profits over safety and allowed the crash to occur that could have been completely avoided.