Boeing's Opaque Mea Culpa

"These funds will support education, hardship and living expenses for impacted families, community programs, and economic development in impacted communities."
Boeing Co.

"We were once told that a statue in memory of the victims and a health post for the local community will be built, and they also promised that the road to the crash site will also be built so that it will be easily accessible for visitors."
Malka Galato, 47, farmer, Gara-bokka, Ethiopia

"We've been assessing a variety of ways to assist the families and communities impacted and determined that this is a constructive step that we can take now ..."
"We're working through the process. Boeing plans to partner with local governments and non-profit organizations to address family needs."
Peter Pedraza, Boeing spokesman

"I stayed enclosed in my little house, in my grief."
"How much would it cost Boeing to personally apologize to the families of the victims? To offer professional counselling for all families who are grieving?"
Paul Njoroge, Canada

"The first thing they [Boeing] should do is reach the families to give their condolences."
"The second thing, they should offer professional counselling."
Pawel Konarski, Poland

Debris recovered from Lion Air flight JT 610 in Jakarta in November 2018.

Photographer: Bay Ismoyo/AFP via Getty Images

When two Boeing 737 Max planes crashed in Ethiopia and Indonesia late last year and early this year, a total of 346 people died. Early investigations indicate that the pilots flying new 737 Max 8 model planes were unable to override an automated system that malfunctioned and pointed the aircraft's nose in a downward position, causing both crashes.  The result was a massive death toll, impacting passengers who hailed from all over the world.

The Boeing model in question was then grounded worldwide, given a second crash in Ethiopia, with all the signposts of the malfunction that caused the first crash of the Lion Air flight in Indonesia in October. Boeing has its work cut out for it in redesigning the electronics of the plane to re-instill confidence in airlines that their newly-purchased fleets of the 737 Max are airworthy.

Regulators will have to approve whatever engineering and electronic fixes the company completes and training for pilots will have to resume before the jets can be approved for flight. A week ago, Boeing Co. made an offer of $100 million with the intention of giving aid to families and communities that were affected by those deadly crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia.

An American Airlines Boeing 737 Max 8 in Miami. The airline’s pilots union asked Boeing in November to take an emergency measure that would likely ground the Max. Company executives pushed back. tCreditJoe Raedle/Getty Images

Included would be not only the victims' families but also Ethiopian farmers whose fields have been fenced off, sites remaining littered with shards of debris, leaving the farmers shut out of farming their own agricultural land. These are poor farmers who cannot afford the expense of leasing land elsewhere, to plant. The money, according to Boeing would be given to local governments and non-profits to be dispensed.

This, aside from the many lawsuits launched by the families of the crash victims. Who will qualify or the offer timeline has not been made clear. But then, it is a highly unusual situation where it is a plane manufacturer and not an airline offering compensation. The Ethiopian and Kenyan governments have not yet been approached by Boeing; no details on the offer have been relayed to Ethiopian Airlines.

Farmers in Gara-bokka where the Ethiopian Airlines crash occurred are left to wonder what will become of their land surrounded by barbed wire fencing. With their fields fenced off they're unable to farm. There are questions from many involved as to whether funds given to government or charities might not even reach them. People from 35 countries had been aboard the Ethiopian Airlines flight; none of the families have heard from Boeing, the company has not sought opinions from any of them.

"Why does  take so long to acknowledge? Give our loved ones [the[ respect that they deserve", said Clariss Moore, of the death of her daughter Danielle, from Canada.

"Because there is still so much to learn about what occurred, it [Boeing's offer] also appears to be disingenuous. Frankly, Boeing's statement creates more questions than answers. Boeing does not understand that the families at this point in time are not interested in its money. The fact is that what is foremost on the minds of these families is getting back the human remains from the crash site. To date that process has been torturously slow without a great deal of communication from Ethiopia. If Boeing really wanted to help, it would take all that money and devote it to accelerating the remains recovery/identification process for these families", stated Robert A. Clifford of Clifford Law Offices

UNITED STATES - JUNE 19: Michael Stumo, left, and his wife Nadia Milleron, the parents of Samya Rose Stumo, hold up signs depicting those lost in Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 and Lion Air Flight 610 during the House Transportation and Infrastructure

CQ-Roll Call,Inc.