The US Department of Justice (DoJ) will offer Boeing a guilty plea for breaching a settlement reached after two crashes that killed 346 people, thereby avoiding a trial, a lawyer for victims’ families said on Sunday, expressing his disagreement.
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“The offer made to Boeing by the DoJ is to plead guilty to an ongoing criminal charge (filed in 2021) for conspiracy to defraud the FAA,” the American air transport regulatory agency, Paul Cassell, a law professor at the University of Utah and a lawyer for families in the criminal part, told AFP.
The announcement was made Sunday afternoon to the victims’ families and their lawyers during a two-hour meeting. The appointment of a supervisor as well as the imposition of a fine were also discussed, according to a press release from the lawyers.
“Families will vigorously oppose this deal,” Mr Cassell warned.
Contacted by AFP, Boeing declined to comment.
It will ultimately be up to the federal judge in Texas responsible for this case to decide.
“He will have to decide whether to approve a federal regulation that ties his hands at sentencing and prevents him from imposing additional punishment or corrective measures,” the lawyer lamented.
A department official “admitted that there was ‘strong interest’ from the families in going to court, but repeatedly said the DoJ could not prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt,” the law firm said.
This agreement should allow Boeing to escape a criminal trial that could result in a conviction that could exclude it from American government and military contracts. The latter generated almost a third of its turnover in 2023.
Boeing entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the American authorities on January 7, 2021, including a penalty of $2.5 billion and three years’ probation.
But the Justice Department reported in mid-May that Boeing had failed to meet its obligations, which the aircraft manufacturer disputes.
Boeing is experiencing production and quality control issues on three of its four commercial aircraft currently being manufactured since early 2023.
The in-flight incident on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 on January 5, when a door cap came loose, was too much.
Under the 2021 agreement, the manufacturer admitted to fraud in the certification of its 737 MAX 8 aircraft, which was involved in two fatal accidents that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. The aircraft was grounded for 20 months in the United States and around the world.
