Dallas, Sep 3 (AP) A crucial hearing is scheduled for Wednesday in a federal court in Texas, where families of victims from two Boeing 737 Max crashes might get their last chance to call for criminal prosecution of the company.
U.S. District Chief Judge Reed O'Connor will consider a motion by the federal government to dismiss a felony fraud charge against Boeing. This charge is tied to the crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia that claimed 346 lives.
In response, Boeing pledged to pay or invest USD 1.1 billion toward fines, compensation for victims' families, and improvements in internal safety and quality measures.
Prosecutors have accused Boeing of deceiving government regulators about a flight-control system implicated in these fatal crashes, which occurred just months apart in 2018 and 2019.
This hearing in Fort Worth takes place over four years after the Justice Department charged Boeing in January 2021, reaching a USD 2.5 billion settlement with the company. The settlement was supposed to shield Boeing from criminal prosecution if they improved their ethics and compliance programs. However, prosecutors reopened the case last year, alleging Boeing violated the agreement.
Boeing opted to plead guilty to avoid trial. However, in December 2024, Judge O'Connor rejected the plea agreement, expressing concerns about the influence of diversity policies on selecting an independent monitor to oversee Boeing's promised reforms.
Attorneys representing some of the victims' families, who seek a public trial and stiffer financial penalties for Boeing, welcomed the judge's rejection. Yet, the delay allowed Boeing to challenge the Justice Department's basis for the corporate charge. This also forced prosecutors to renegotiate a guilty plea with Boeing, taking six months.
During this period, President Donald Trump returned to office and halted diversity initiatives that had concerned O'Connor.
By late May, a new deal was reached, removing the criminal charge and Boeing's guilty plea from consideration. The Justice Department cited “significant changes” Boeing made to its quality control and anti-fraud programs as the reason for this decision.
O'Connor has invited some families to share their views on Wednesday. Relatives from France, Ireland, and Canada plan to ask the judge to reject the government's request and appoint a special prosecutor for the case.
Chris and Clariss Moore from Toronto, whose daughter Danielle died in the Ethiopia crash, stated that the pending agreement would enable Boeing to evade justice. “The safety of passengers will be held in the balance,” they said.
Justice Department lawyers claim that families of 110 crash victims support resolving the case without trial or don’t oppose the new settlement. They've asked the judge to allow the possibility of refiling the conspiracy charge if Boeing fails to comply over the next two years.
The department believes securing a criminal conviction from a jury would be uncertain. The new deal, they argue, provides "meaningful accountability," delivers public benefits, and resolves a complex case with an uncertain outcome.
This prolonged case focuses on software Boeing developed for the Max jets, which began flights in 2017.
In the 2018 and 2019 crashes, this software misread data from a single sensor, repeatedly forcing the plane's nose downward. Pilots of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines, operating new aircraft, couldn't regain control. Following the Ethiopian crash, the aircraft was grounded worldwide for 20 months while the software was redeveloped.
Investigations revealed Boeing failed to inform crucial FAA personnel about changes in the software before certification. The FAA, acting on incomplete data, approved minimal training for Boeing 737 pilots, sidestepping expensive flight simulator training for the new jetliner version.
The original 2021 settlement neared expiration last year when a panel flew off a 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight over Oregon. While there were no severe injuries, it increased scrutiny of Boeing's safety record. (AP) GSP
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