Family of Brit killed in tragic Boeing crash slam company as 'pure evil' over response to his death

A new Netflix documentary about Boeing has once again shone a light on two fatal crashes which killed over 300 people, as well as the subsequent whistleblowers and allegations about the company's culture.

Among the 300 people killed across two plane crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia were a number of Brits, including 25-year-old Sam Pegram from Preston.

Sam died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash in 2019, with investigations later finding that Boeing’s new software was responsible for the crash, leading to a worldwide grounding of the 737 Max aircraft.

A plane of the same model crashed due to the faulty software just five months prior in 2018, with a Senate investigation finding evidence the company was aware of issues.

Netflix’s new doc, Freefall: A Reckoning for Boeing, is shining a light on these victims, something Sam’s family are happy about as they feel they were ‘robbed of justice’.

Speaking exclusively to LADbible, Sam’s dad Mark Pegram and Sam’s brother Tom said that the company was ‘pure evil’, in part due to its lawyer’s response to the deaths.

‘We came face to face with evil’

Sam died aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which crashed six minutes after take-off, hitting the ground at roughly 700 miles per hour. All 157 people on board lost their lives.

In response to a filing made by the victim’s families, pointing to the pain and suffering their loved ones felt before their crash, Boeing’s lawyers argued that ‘undisputed evidence shows that death was instantaneous, and any speculation about what the passengers might have felt as the plane made impact is unfounded’.

Tom claimed the company was ‘as evil as it gets’, but added he was not surprised by the argument it made. He said: “The tricks they pulled all along the way to victims, to the government, to their own employees.

“That's just how they are, that is who they are as a company", he said, adding they had come ‘face to face with evil’.

Executives ‘walk away with million-dollar handshakes’ instead of ‘prison sentences’

Though there was a combined effort to hold Boeing criminally accountable by the families of the victims of the two crashes and multiple Boeing whistleblowers, one of whom, John Barnett, died by suicide, they were ultimately unsuccessful.

Boeing’s Manoeuvring Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) was introduced to push the nose down automatically during high angles of attack to prevent a stall, but ultimately was found to have caused both fatal crashes. The company was found by prosecutors to have deceived the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about this and was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States.

It was handed a deferred prosecution agreement and, while it breached this in 2024 when a plane door blew off a Boeing aircraft, in late 2025 it came to a Non-Prosecution Agreement with the DOJ. In essence, the company had to pay billions in fines, but no Boeing employee or the company itself were found criminally responsible.

Mark said he was ‘disgusted’ that they avoided prosecution, adding: “Ultimately we've been unable to hold Boeing accountable as an entity as a whole, let alone the individual executives of the top of the organisation who knew what was going on and didn't stop it.

“It just seems there's some degree that people have walked away from that with multi-million dollar golden handshakes, not prison sentences.”

Tom added: “If there's no real justice for those crimes, then there's nothing to prevent other large corporations following and doing the same thing.

“There's no deterrent essentially, and it will happen again. Large corporate crimes will happen again off the back of it.”

One major point discussed in Freefall is the remuneration packages of Boeing’s CEOs, with Dennis Muilenburg being fired after refusing to step down following the crash. He received $128 million during his time as CEO and walked away with $62.2 million in previously earned pension, deferred compensation and long-term stock awards.

Sam was a ‘caring generous soul’

Speaking about the legacy Sam left behind, Mark said his son had been a ‘caring, generous soul’ who would go out of his way to help those around him.

The 25-year-old had spent two years abroad volunteering and working for humanitarian NGOs in Jordan prior to studying International Human Rights Law and Practice at the University of York. After graduating, he began work at the Norwegian Refugee Council in Geneva, where he was working when the crash occurred.

Tom said that he had done ‘more in 25 years of life than most people would do their entire lives’, adding that he was ‘inspiring’.

Sam’s parents Mark and Debbie, alongside his brother Tom, set up the Sam Pegram Humanitarian Foundation in his honour, calling it ‘Sam’s Legacy’ for short.

Tom showed off a tattoo of the foundation’s symbol, a glowing sun, saying that Sam was a ‘ray of sunshine’ in people’s lives.

Mark said that they wanted to ‘honour Sam’s legacy’ by putting money and energy into causes the young Preston man was passionate about.

This mostly covers activities for refugees and people seeking asylum, putting on football tournaments and games for people in Preston, as well as sponsoring a ‘Sam Pegram scholarship’ to pay for immigrants to go to the University of York.

Tom explained: “I think that's what Sam was all about, bringing people together.

“In the current political climate especially it's really important that we just bring people together and you sort of realise by doing things like football that through doing that we're all the same… It's all about like breaking down barriers and bringing people together and saying that we are better together.”

You can get involved in Sam’s Legacy here, or follow them on Instagram for more updates on their work.

LADbible Group has contacted Boeing for comment.