Boeing agrees to plead guilty to 737 Max crashes – DW – 07/08/2024

According to court documents filed in Texas this Sunday, July 7, the world’s largest aerospace company reached a settlement with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) in which it agreed to plead guilty to “conspiracy to defraud the United States” during the certification of the MAX aircraft.

The settlement — which will avoid the company going to trial — includes a second criminal fine of $244 million and a $455 million the company will spend over the next three years to improve its “compliance and safety programs,” which is significantly less than the $24.8 billion the victims’ families claimed from the plane manufacturer.

In a statement, Boeing limited itself to confirming that it had “reached an agreement in principle with the Department of Justice on the terms of a resolution, subject to approval of specific conditions.”

Victims’ families “very disappointed”

The victims’ families described themselves as “very disappointed” by the settlement, an attorney from the Clifford Law Firm representing them said, and asked the court to reject it at an upcoming hearing, alleging that it “unfairly grants certain concessions to Boeing” that other defendants will never receive.

“Over the past five years, abundant evidence has been presented to show that Boeing’s culture of putting profits over safety has not changed. This plea agreement only furthers that corporate goal,” attorney Robert A. Clifford said in a statement.

The agreement still must be approved by a federal judge. Compensation to victims’ families, if applicable, will be determined by the court.

737 MAX: Indonesia 2018 and Ethiopia 2019

The case arises from two accidents with two Boeing 737 aircraft, one in Indonesia, in 2018, and the other in Ethiopia, in 2019, five months apart, and in which a total of 346 people died.

If ultimately approved, the settlement would prevent the company from undergoing testing that could lead to even more wear and tear and could therefore help it in its aim to turn the page on the events with the 737 MAX.

On June 30, the Justice Department offered Boeing this settlement and gave it until the end of last week to accept it or face trial for conspiracy to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in connection with a key software function linked to the above accidents.

after violating the 2021 agreement

The new settlement comes after the DOJ determined in May that Boeing ignored a January 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) by failing to comply with requirements to improve its ethics and compliance programs following the crashes.

The original 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA), over allegations that Boeing intentionally defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during certification of the MAX, required Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in fines and restitution in exchange for criminal immunity.

The three-year probationary period was due to end this year. But in January, Boeing ran into trouble again when an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX plane was forced to make an emergency landing after a fuselage panel ruptured during flight.

In a letter to the US court on May 14, DOJ officials said Boeing had violated its obligations under the DPA by failing to “design, implement, and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect fraud violations across all of its operations.”

RML (AFP, EFE, Reuters)