Boeing has come under renewed scrutiny after a door plug panel blew up a 737 Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. File | Photo source: Reuters
Boeing violated a settlement that allowed the company to avoid criminal prosecution after two fatal crashes involving the 737 Max plane, the Justice Department told a federal judge May 14.
It’s now up to the Justice Department to decide whether to bring charges against the planemaker amid growing scrutiny over the safety of its planes. The Department of Justice announced that prosecutors will inform the court about planned further proceedings no later than July 7.
In January 2021, Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement with the Department of Justice to avoid prosecution on one count of fraud – misleading regulators in approving the 737 Max. Boeing has charged two relatively low-level employees with fraud.
The manufacturing giant came under renewed scrutiny after a door plug panel blew up a 737 Max jet during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Multiple investigations are ongoing at the company, and the FBI has informed passengers on the flight that they may become victims of crime.
Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Glenn Leon, the head of the Justice Department’s fraud division, said in a letter filed in federal court in Texas that Boeing failed to make changes that would have prevented it from violating federal anti-fraud laws, which is a condition of the 2021 settlement.
The finding means Boeing could be prosecuted “for any violation of federal law of which the United States is aware,” including a fraud charge that the company hoped to avoid through a $2.5 billion settlement, the Justice Department said .
However, it is unclear whether the government will press charges against the manufacturing giant.
“The government determines how it will proceed in this matter,” the Justice Department said in a court filing. Prosecutors announced that they would meet with the families of the disaster victims on May 31.
Paul Cassell, a lawyer representing the families of passengers who died in the Max crash in Ethiopia, called it “a positive first step, and it will take a long time for the families.” “However, we need to see further action from the Department of Justice to hold Boeing accountable, and we plan to operate our meeting on May 31 to explain in greater detail what we believe would be a satisfactory remedy for Boeing’s continuing criminal conduct,” Cassell said.
Investigations into the 2018 and 2019 crashes found that Boeing added a flight control system to the Max without informing pilots or airlines. Boeing downplayed the importance of the system and only reviewed it after the second crash.
The Justice Department investigated Boeing and settled the case in January 2021. After secret negotiations, the government agreed not to prosecute Boeing on charges of defrauding the United States by defrauding the regulators that authorized the plane.
In return, the company paid $2.5 billion – a $243.6 million fine, a $500 million victim compensation fund and nearly $1.8 billion to the airlines whose Max jets were grounded.
Since the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia, Boeing has faced civil lawsuits, congressional investigations and massive damage to its business.
