Leeds University alumni who died in Boeing 737 Max Ethiopian Airlines crash was ‘unlawfully killed’

The finding comes four years after Ethiopian Airlines ET302 crashed en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi on March 10, 2019, killing all 157 passengers and crew on board. Among those who died were humanitarian worker and University of Leeds alumni Samuel Pegram, 25, fellow humanitarian worker Oliver Vick, 45, and sustainability campaigner Joanna Toole, 36.

The family of a fourth UK national killed in the crash, Abdulqadir Qasim, 46, were present at the inquest in Horsham, West Sussex, as an interested party, but the father-of-four was not formally recorded as part of the hearing as he was not repatriated back to the UK.

The inquest heard, in a final report from December 2022, that the Ethiopian Airplane Accident Investigation Bureau had found that a flying control system on the Boeing 737 Max aircraft had malfunctioned, causing the aircraft to begin “repetitive and uncommandable” nose diving which the pilots could not physically control.

The inquest also heard that “safety critical” information on the control system and awareness of the mechanism was deliberately not disclosed by two Boeing company pilots to the American authorities, which led to a lower level of training being needed to operate the planes.

Boeing was fined 2.3 billion US dollars (£1.8 billion) in 2021 after it was found that the actions of its employees had misled regulators about the control system.

Senior coroner Penelope Schofield also found that a contributing factor in the victims’ deaths was that Boeing had failed to provide procedures to operate the system in a flight crew manual, and that information requested by Ethiopian Airlines’ training department was “incomplete”.

Ms Schofield added that if the information had been provided, it would have “significantly altered the outcome”. The Ethiopian Airlines crash followed just months after another Boeing 737 Max plane, operated by Lion Air Max, crashed in Indonesia killing all 189 people on board.

Ms Schofield paid tribute to the “impressive lives” of the British victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash and to all the 157 passengers and crew killed, many of whom she noted were environmentalists and humanitarians.

She added: “The true impact of this loss on humanity may never be known.”

In a statement heard at the inquest, Mark Pegram, Mr Pegram’s father, said how the Leeds University alumni had “made the world a better place” and had an “infectious sense of humour”. The 25-year-old had started a job at a refugee agency based in Geneva and had worked previously in Jordan for humanitarian organisations.

Mark Pegram said: “Sam fought for justice for others, so I’m here today to get justice for Sam.”

Ms Schofield said: “We should not forget the 157 people who cruelly lost their lives. This huge loss will be borne by their families and friends all around the world. The process has taken over four years, it’s been a long and difficult journey. I hope through this process, you (the families) felt you had a voice.”