Boeing executives have agreed to a $243.6 million plea deal that would allow the company to avoid criminal prosecution over two deadly 737 Max crashes.
Under the agreement, Boeing will plead guilty to one count of criminal fraud stemming from fatal crashes in Indonesia in October 2018 and in Ethiopia less than five months later, which killed a total of 346 people.
Boeing must also pay the hefty fine, invest at least $455 million in compliance and safety programs, and have an independent monitor oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years.
The settlement came just days after federal prosecutors gave Boeing the option of pleading guilty and paying the fine or facing trial on criminal charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States.
They have argued that the aerospace company misled regulators who approved requirements for the plane and pilot training.
Boeing executives have agreed to a $243.6 million plea deal that would allow the company to avoid criminal prosecution over a pair of deadly 737 Max crashes.
The plea deal must now be approved by a federal judge in Texas to take effect.
The judge, who has previously criticized what he called Boeing’s “egregious criminal conduct,” could then approve the plea deal — or he could reject it outright, likely prompting the Justice Department to enter into new negotiations with Boeing.
But even then, the plea deal would only cover the company’s wrongdoing before the crashes, which killed all passengers and crew members.
It would not give the company immunity for other incidents, including a panel that blew up a Max passenger jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, and would not cover any current or former Boeing officials, only the company itself.
The plea deal would not give the company immunity for other incidents, including a panel that blew up a Max passenger jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January.
Lawyers representing some of the families involved in the crash have said they will press the judge to reject the settlement.
“This sweetheart deal fails to acknowledge that 346 people died as a result of Boeing’s conspiracy,” said attorney Paul Cassell.
‘Through skillful legal negotiation between Boeing and the Department of Justice, the deadly consequences of Boeing’s crimes are being concealed.’
Relatives have pushed for a criminal trial, arguing it could prove Boeing executives knew they were misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about its faulty flight control system.
They also want the Justice Department to prosecute those officials.
“Boeing has paid fines many times and there doesn’t seem to be any change,” said Ike Riffel of Redding, California, whose children died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash.
“When people start going to prison, that’s when you’ll see a change.”
Lawyers representing some of the families involved in the crash have said they will press the judge to reject the settlement.
The families have long pushed for a criminal trial, arguing it could show Boeing executives knew they were misleading the Federal Aviation Administration about its faulty flight control system.
In both crashes (in Indonesia in 2018 and Ethiopia in 2019), MCAS automatically pointed the plane’s nose down based on faulty sensor readings, and the pilots were unable to regain control.
On October 29, 2018, the Boeing 737 MAX operating Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
The pilot at the time was unaware that the software could push the nose of the plane down.
Five months later, on March 10, 2019, the Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operating Ethiopian Flight 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, Ethiopia, six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 people on board.
The pilots of that plane knew about the software problem, but were unable to control the plane when the software was activated based on information from a faulty sensor.
But Boeing downplayed the system’s significance and did not review it until after the second accident.
On October 29, 2018, the Boeing 737 MAX operating Lion Air Flight 610 crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew.
On March 10, 2019, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operating Ethiopian Flight 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, Ethiopia.
The Justice Department investigated Boeing in 2021, accusing the company of misleading FAA regulators about software (which did not exist on older 737s) and how much training pilots would need to fly the plane safely.
After secret negotiations, the government agreed not to prosecute Boeing on charges of defrauding the United States by misleading regulators who approved the plane.
In exchange, the company paid $2.5 billion: a $243.6 million fine, a $500 million fund to compensate victims and nearly $1.8 billion to the airlines whose Max planes were grounded.
But in May, officials determined the company violated the agreement, setting the stage for criminal charges.
Glenn Leon, chief of the fraud section of the Justice Department’s criminal division, said in a letter filed in federal court in Texas that Boeing failed to make changes to avoid violating federal antifraud laws, a condition of the 2021 settlement.
The department alleges that Boeing failed to “design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of U.S. anti-fraud laws,” according to NBC.
Lawmakers have since also released a report with explosive allegations from a Boeing quality assurance inspector, Sam Mohawk, who said the company installed defective parts on planes and was then told by its managers to hide the evidence from government regulators.
The Justice Department investigated Boeing in 2021, accusing the company of misleading FAA regulators about software but decided not to charge the aerospace company.
However, Boeing officials denied those claims.
“We believe we have honored the terms of that agreement and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this matter,” a spokesperson said at the time.
“In doing so, we will communicate with the Department with the utmost transparency, as we have done throughout the term of the agreement, including in response to its questions following the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282.”
But at a recent Senate hearing, Boeing CEO David Calhoun apologized to the families of the crash victims.
“I am deeply sorry… my entire team at Boeing, everyone around the world, past and present,” Calhoun said.