US Department of Justice Offers Boeing Deal to Admit Guilt in 2 Aviation Disasters

The US Department of Justice intends to charge Boeing Corporation with fraud for violating an agreement pertaining to the postponement of legal action following two disasters involving the Boeing 737 MAX. Bloomberg has reported that the department is offering the corporation a deal to admit guilt, according to RTVI.

Anonymously sourced information from the agency indicates that the corporation must make a decision by the end of the week on whether it will plead guilty to the charges brought against it.

According to the agency, Boeing will be required to pay an additional $243.6 million in fines as part of the deal, in addition to the $243.6 million already paid under a deferred criminal prosecution agreement reached in 2021. Two Bloomberg sources have further revealed that the company must also appoint a corporate monitor for a period of three years.

In October 2018, a Boeing 737 MAX operated by Indonesian Lion Air crashed into the Java Sea due to issues with altitude and speed determinations, resulting in the deaths of 189 people. This was the first disaster involving the Boeing 737 MAX in history. Six months later, an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft suffered a similar fate due to the same problems, with 157 people on board.

After the second crash, Boeing ceased operations of this aircraft type but resumed it in 2020. The Department of Justice's offer has been referred to by attorney Paul Cassell, who represents victims' families, as a “sweetheart deal” for admitting guilt.

Neither the Department of Justice nor representatives of the corporation have commented on the details of the deal. On June 20, CNN reported that relatives of the victims had approached the US Department of Justice, asking the department to fine the company $24 billion. Family members have stated that Boeing has committed “the deadliest corporate crime in American history.”