The trial on behalf of a Canadian man who lost his parents and sister killed in the crash of a Boeing 737 jet begins Monday, January 12, 2026, in federal district court in Chicago, with Robert Clifford leading the plaintiff’s trial team.
U.S. District Court Judge Jorge Alonso will be presiding over the trial to determine damages. It is expected to last one week.
Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, is lead counsel for the plaintiffs.
The case is on behalf of Manant Vaidya of Toronto, who lost his parents, Pannagesh and Hansini Vaidya, and his sister, Kosha Vaidya, in the 2019 crash of a Boeing 737 MAX8 aircraft that crashed shortly after takeoff in Ethiopia. The Vaidya family lived in Canada at the time of the crash and was traveling during the young girls’ spring break to show the girls where their mom was born. All three were killed. Her parents traveled with them to see friends who still lived there.
All 157 people on board from 35 countries were killed. Also among the decedents were Kosha’s husband, Preritkumar Dixit, and their two children, Ashka and Anushka Dixit.
“This family has waited nearly seven years to see justice, and that is our goal in this trial,” Clifford said.
Jury selection will begin at 8:30 a.m. Monday before U.S. District Court Judge Alonso in the Dirksen Federal Building in Chicago.
“Boeing accepted full responsibility for the senseless and preventable loss of these lives,” Clifford said. “It is now up to a jury to determine just how devastating these losses are through the only way the civil justice system is able — monetary damages to hold the giant corporation accountable.”
The crash of the Boeing 737 MAX8 jet, Flight ET-302, occurred on March 10, 2019, shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport in Ethiopia, heading to Kenya, killing all 157 on board.
For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell) or Pammenaker@cliffordlaw.com.