Kenyan Man Who Lost Five Family Members in Ethiopian Crash Gives Emotional Testimony Before US Congress

A Kenyan man who lost five members of his family in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in March this year delivered an emotional testimony before the US Congress on Wednesday.

Paul Njoroge, who lost his wife, three children and mother-in-law in the March 10th crash, said he misses them every minute of every day and has been having nightmares about how his kids clung to their mother crying when the Boeing 737 Max flight began going down.

The crash was the second fatal accident involving a Boeing 737 Max aircraft in five months. In October 2018, an identical flight owned by Indonesian carrier Lion Air, went down in the sea off Jakarta killing all the people on board.

"All I could think about was the 737 Max struggling to gain height and eventually diving to the ground, killing my whole family and 152 others. Every minute of every day they would be all around me, full of life and health. I miss them every minute of every day,” said an emotional Njoroge.

The 35-year-old said Boeing has not apologized personally nearly five months after the crash happened. The American aircraft manufacturer, however, issued a public apology to the victims’ families.
"Boeing has not apologized to us personally. No letters. They have not reached out to us at all. They appear on cameras to apologize to us," he said.

Njoroge is among the victims’ families who are pushing Boeing, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and the US government for answers.

"On April 4, three weeks after the deaths of my family, in what I have since learned is a shameful pattern of behavior by Boeing and airplane manufacturers, Boeing shifted focus from the root cause of the crashes - the design flaws in the 737 Max and MCAS - and started talking about 'foreign pilot error'," Njoroge said.

"Would they have used the term "domestic pilot error" if the crash happened in the United States? The term 'foreign pilot error' is utter prejudice and disrespect to pilots and Boeing customers across the world."

"If Boeing's wrongful conduct continues, another plane will dive to the ground killing me or you or your children or other members of your family. It is you who must be the leaders in this fight for aviation safety in the world," Njoroge added.

Njoroge’s family was visiting Kenya from Canada when the crash happened.