Boeing Should Face Criminal Charges, Prosecutors Tell DOJ: Report

Justice Department prosecutors are recommending that Boeing face criminal charges, alleging it violated an agreement related to two fatal crashes, Reuters reported Sunday.

The department faces a July 7 deadline to determine whether to charge the airline giant.

The 2021 settlement agreement followed two fatal crashes related to defects in the Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft, killing nearly 350 people in 2018 and 2019. The agreement protected the company from criminal liability for fraud in exchange for a promised review of its compliance. system, in addition to a fine of US$2.5 billion.

The department concluded that Boeing violated the agreement last month, which the company disputed. Boeing and the DOJ are in talks about next steps and a final decision on the charges has not yet been reached, according to Reuters.

Justice Department prosecutor Glenn Leon said in court last month that Boeing violated the agreement “by failing to design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of U.S. fraud laws in all its operations.”

Boeing told The Hill in a statement last month that it believes it continues to comply with the agreement.

“We believe we have honored the terms of this agreement and look forward to the opportunity to respond to the Department on this matter,” the company said.

Senators grilled Boeing CEO Dave Calhoun about the deal and other security issues with the airline during a Homeland Security subcommittee hearing last week. In his statement, Calhoun apologized to the families of those who died in the two accidents.

“I want to apologize personally, on behalf of everyone at Boeing. We are deeply sorry for your losses. Nothing is more important than the safety of the people who board our planes. Every day, we seek to honor the memory of those lost through a constant commitment to safety and quality,” said Calhoun.

The next day, a group of victims’ family members published a letter calling on the Department of Justice to bring “aggressive criminal prosecution” against Boeing.

“As the Boeing crime is the deadliest corporate crime in U.S. history, a maximum fine of more than $24 billion is legally justified and clearly appropriate, although it could be partially suspended if funds that would otherwise have been paid are dedicated to appropriate quality control and safety measures. ,” attorney Paul Cassell wrote on behalf of some victims’ families.

Cassell also said the families “believe the Department should pursue criminal charges against the responsible Boeing corporate employees at the time of the two accidents, including, in particular, former Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg.”

The looming lawsuit issue adds to the ongoing crisis at Boeing regarding aircraft safety. The company has been reeling since January, when a door on a 737 Max 9 aircraft exploded mid-flight. No one was injured, but the incident grounded all similar planes and triggered a massive Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) investigation.

The investigation found lax safety checks and manufacturing errors in Boeing’s construction process, and the company has since faced pressure from regulators and Congress to resolve the problems.

“There are issues surrounding the safety culture at Boeing. Their priorities have been focused on production rather than safety and quality,” FAA Administrator Michael Whittaker said in March. “And so what we’re really focused on now is shifting the focus from production to safety and quality.”

The FAA said its six-week audit of Boeing found “multiple instances in which the companies allegedly failed to comply with manufacturing quality control requirements.”

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment.

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