Parents' heartbreak as son killed in Boeing 737 Max crash six minutes after take-off

A man who 'wanted to make the world a better place' was unlawfully killed in a Boeing 737 plane crash in Ethiopia, a coroner has ruled.

Sam Pegram, from Preston, was travelling to Kenya to help men, women and children who were fleeing war and conflict. But just six minutes after take-off off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa the Boeing 737 crashed, killing all 157 people onboard, LancsLive reports.

Sam's parents, Mark and Deborah, described their 25-year-old son as 'a ray of sunshine' with a strong passion for human rights. "He hated inequality", they said.

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British humanitarian worker Oliver Vick, 45, and sustainability campaigner Joanna Toole, 36, were also among the passengers who died in the crash in March 2019.

They were found to have been unlawfully killed by Boeing, who were accused of 'playing Russian Roulette with their lives.' Senior Coroner Penny Schofield ruled that she was satisfied that Boeing had engaged in criminal conduct that led directly to the deaths of 149 passengers and 8 crew on board flight ET 302.

Mark Pegram said: "The dishonesty and deceit they have shown is the complete opposite of Sam's values."

It was the second deadly incident involving the new model of Boeing passenger jet in less than five months, prompting concerns over its safety. 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.

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,