A three-year probationary period was set to expire this year.
New York:
Boeing said Monday it has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over two fatal 737 MAX crashes that court documents show would lead the aviation giant to plead guilty to fraud.
The agreement comes after prosecutors concluded that Boeing breached a previous settlement over the disasters in which 346 people died in Ethiopia and Indonesia more than five years ago.
“We have reached agreement in principle on the terms of a resolution with the Department of Justice, subject to memorization and approval of specific terms,” Boeing told AFP in a statement.
Court documents filed in Texas on Sunday say the company agreed to plead guilty to “conspiracy to defraud the United States” during the certification of MAX planes.
Boeing will be fined under the settlement and must invest a minimum of $455 million in “compliance and safety programs,” while compensation for the families will be determined by the court.
Boeing’s latest legal predicament was triggered by a DoJ determination in mid-May that the company ignored a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) by failing to meet requirements to improve its compliance and ethics program following the MAX crash. .
The families of the MAX victims were “very disappointed” with the settlement reached between Boeing and the DoJ, said a Clifford Law attorney representing them.
“Much more evidence has been presented over the past five years that demonstrates that Boeing’s culture of putting profits above safety has not changed. This plea agreement only furthers this distorted corporate objective,” said senior partner Robert A. Clifford in a statement.
The families will ask the court to reject the plea deal at an upcoming hearing, according to an opposition filed by their legal team.
The original DPA was announced in January 2021, over allegations that Boeing knowingly defrauded the Federal Aviation Administration during certification of the MAX.
The settlement required Boeing to pay $2.5 billion in fines and restitution in exchange for immunity from criminal prosecution.
A three-year probationary period was set to expire this year. But in January, Boeing returned to crisis mode when a 737 MAX flown by Alaska Airlines was forced to make an emergency landing after a fuselage panel exploded mid-flight.
In a May 14 letter to the U.S. court, DoJ officials said Boeing violated its obligations under the DPA by “failing to design, implement and enforce a compliance and ethics program to prevent and detect violations of US antifraud laws.” USA throughout its operations”. “
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