Boeing agrees to solve the US criminal case over 737 accidents

Boeing Co. reached a preliminary agreement with the US Department of Justice that will enable the planemaker to avoid criminal charges for two fatal accidents from his 737 Max Jets more than six years ago. The settlement was revealed in a federal court filed on Friday, a few weeks before a trial on June 23 would begin in Fort Worth, Texas. It asks for the company to pay more than $ 1.1 billion and strengthen quality and safety measures, Justice’s lawyers said. This is an incredible turnaround in the long -term legal case. Just last year, Boeing agreed to plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy. But the agreement was rejected in December by US District Judge Reed O’Connor, who has been overseeing the case since 2021. The government said a final agreement would be submitted by the end of next week, but gave an overview of the conditions in its submission. Among them: A $ 243.6 million fine for Boeing and an order for the planemak board to meet with family members killed in the accidents. The preliminary agreement will require Boeing to contribute $ 444.5 million to a fund for families of victims who died in the accidents of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018, and the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in March 2019, according to the filing. Boeing would also spend $ 455 million to strengthen its compliance, safety and quality programs, the filing shows. “In the end, when applying the facts, the law and the department policy, we are confident that this resolution is the best outcome with practical benefits,” prosecutors said in a statement, pointing out that they would meet “extensively” with family members of the victims. Family -on -position after the government filed notice of the agreement, advocates who represent family members of accident victims told O’Connor that they were planning to object to the agreement and requested him to refuse any attempt by the government to reject the criminal case against Boeing. “The families intend to argue that the dismissal makes unfair concessions to have Boeing that other criminal defendants would never receive and do not hold Boeing accountable for the death of 346 people,” they said in a court piece. Many of the families opposed any agreement that enabled Boeing to avoid criminal prosecution. They fought for years to withdraw stricter fines from the company. Both accidents are linked to a poor flight control system at 737 Max Jets. The only Boeing official to be heard was a mid-level driver who oversaw the pilot manuals and training materials. He was acquitted. Catherine Berthet, whose 28-year-old daughter Camille Geoffrey was killed in the 2019 accident, said she was “absolutely stunned” by the proposed agreement. “I will never get rid of my pain and my tears,” Berthet said in a statement. “By deciding not to prosecute Boeing and not taking it before the court, the government sends a message to the public that large companies are above law and justice, even if they kill.” According to prosecutors, not all the families of the victims are opposed to the agreement. In the submission of Friday, the Justice Department said that family members and advocates who represented more than 100 victims of accidents or expressed support for the resolution, attempts to end the case before the hearing or did not opposed the agreement. One family member told the government that he wanted “the doj to find a way to solve this matter as soon as possible.” Boeing declined to comment on the agreement. The company’s shares fell less than 1% on Friday. Legal turns The case has taken several turns. In 2021, Boeing reached an agreement with the Department of Justice to postpone prosecution on charges of misleading regulators over the system. Under the agreement, Boeing paid a $ 243.6 million fine. Early in 2024, two days before the charge was rejected, a door -sized plug blew from an aviation 737. While no one died, the accident led to investigations and findings of lax control in Boeing’s factories. The government said Boeing violated the 2021 agreement and recommended a criminal complaint. Boeing agreed to plead guilty, paying a fine and installing an independent corporate monitor. The agreement would also have required the company to spend at least $ 455 million to strengthen its compliance and safety programs. But the proposal was rejected by O’Connor in December. He said that the agreement reduced its role in ensuring Boeing to his promises and that the process of choosing an independent monitor would rely on diversity, fairness and inclusion policies, which would impose improperly race on the rental decision. In March, O’Connor Boeing ordered to be heard in June. While he did not explain his decision, the order came a day after the Wall Street Journal reported that Boeing leniently sought from the Justice Department and tried to avoid a criminal complaint. The original plea agreement was made by the Biden Administration Department of Justice, which claims it was standard practice to include language -related with DeI policy. Since being appointed on January 20, President Donald Trump has eradicated diversity programs within the federal government. The case is US v. Boeing, 21-CR -005, US District Court, Northern District Texas. © 2025 Bloomberg MP This article was generated from an automatic news agency feed without edits to text.