Jury Awards Local Family Nearly $50M In Boeing Case

If there is one thing I know about Nadia Milleron, and I don't know much, is that she is a tenacious woman and refuses to let Boeing get the best of her family - and wants no one to endure what she had to.

Milleron's daughter, Samya Stumo of Sheffield, MA died in a 2019 plane crash (Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302) that claimed the lives of all 157 people on board that day. Stumo was heading to East Africa for her first big assignment with a global health nonprofit. She was passionate about making healthcare more affordable in developing countries.

This was the second Boeing 737 MAX to crash within a few months - a plane crashed in Indonesia in October of 2018. Days after the crash which killed Stumo, the FAA issued an emergency grounding order of the fleet of 737 MAX planes.

Boeing eventually accepted liability for the fatal 737 crashes and admitted misleading safety regulators. However, according to Milleron, because Boeing admitted fault they "avoided the scrutiny that a trial brings". She decided to keep fighting.

Nadia Milleron has been fighting for years not just for justice for her daughter but for bigger changes in airplane safety. She said the family turned down secret settlements because they wanted the truth to come out in court. Very few families turned down the quiet settlements from Boeing and decided to keep fighting - Milleron's case was the last case to be resolved (May 2026).

"This isn't really about the money for us," Milleron told reporters. "It's about holding companies accountable so this doesn't happen again." -theberkshireeagle.com

The Chicago jury awarded the family $21 million for Samya's suffering on the flight, $16.5 million for the family's loss of her companionship, and $12 million for their grief - that's nearly $50M.

But getting the money could still take time because of possible appeals.

I helped pass the national bi-partisan Aircraft Certification, Safety, and Accountability Act in December 2020, then went to Boeing’s home in Illinois and helped overthrow a state law that allowed negligent and reckless corporations to literally get away with murder. -nadiaforcongress.com