U.S. Department of Justice to file lawsuit against Boeing The company committed fraud but plans to offer the plane maker a plea deal, according to people familiar with the matter, angering relatives of hundreds of passengers who died in two fatal crashes five years ago.
Officials have told families of those on board Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, which killed 346 people, that Boeing will decide by the end of the week whether to plead guilty and avoid a trial.
Lawyers representing the relatives accused the federal government of orchestrating “another sweetheart plea deal” with Boeing. During a conference call on Sunday, a family member of one officer allegedly asked him how he slept at night.
Relatives were briefed on the terms of the proposed deal during a conference call: Boeing would pay a fine, face three years of probation and work under company surveillance, according to two sources.
Terms Unleashing a wave of rage. “The memory of the 346 innocent people killed by Boeing demands more justice than this,” said Paul Cassell, who represents the families of the 15 victims of the crash.
Erin Applebaum, another attorney representing relatives of the victims, criticized the proposal as “shameful” and said it “completely fails to mention or acknowledge the dignity of the victims.”
Applebaum said the families will appeal to a judge and the public at large to have the deal rejected. “When another Boeing crash inevitably occurs and the Department of Justice attempts to pursue accountability, they will have no choice but to look in the mirror.”
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment Sunday. Boeing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Two Boeing 737 Max crashes in October 2018 and March 2019 killed 346 people. This resulted in the aircraft being grounded worldwide for nearly two years.
In 2021, the Justice Department and Boeing reached a controversial agreement to protect the company from criminal charges of conspiracy to commit fraud stemming from two crashes.
However, the company came under intense scrutiny earlier this year after a new 737 Max jet was forced to make an emergency landing after a cabin panel exploded mid-flight, with the Justice Department saying Boeing violated that agreement.
Sanjiv Singh, a lawyer for the families of 16 victims of the crash, said the deal offered “appears to be a sweetheart deal,” citing the Justice Department’s request for the independent appointment of a corporate monitor for Boeing , rather than allowing the company to nominate its own candidates. “I’m appalled that the department has deflected our request and gone back to ‘oh, this is policy,'” he said.
Cassell said relatives of the deceased “will vigorously oppose this plea agreement,” calling it a “no-liability agreement.”
“In no way does the agreement acknowledge Boeing’s criminal conduct that resulted in the deaths of 346 people,” Cassell said. “It also appears to be based on the idea that Boeing did not harm any victims.”
Separately, as Boeing continues to grapple with the crisis caused by a January cabin blowout, Reuters reported on Sunday that it had agreed to acquire key supplier Spirit AeroSystems in a deal that values the company at more than $4 billion.
