By Alanna Durkin Richer
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Department of Justice has reached a contract with Boeing that allows them to avoid criminal prosecution that allegedly mislead U.S. regulators over the 737’s largest jet liner before two planes crashed and killed 346 people, according to court documents filed Friday.
Under the “contract in principle” that still needs to be finalized, Boeing will pay and invest more than $1.1 billion, including an additional $445 million, to the families of crash victims.
In return, the department agreed to dismiss the fraud charge against Boeing, allowing manufacturers to avoid criminal convictions that could endanger the company’s position as a federal contractor, experts said.
“In the end, we believe that this resolution is the most legitimate result with practical interests in applying facts, laws and departmental policies,” a spokesman for the Department of Justice said in a statement.
“There is nothing to reduce the losses of victims, but this resolution will hold Boeing economically accountable, provide finality and compensation to families, and impact the safety of future air travel.”
Boeing declined to comment Friday.
Many parents of passengers who died in crash crashes in less than five months off Indonesia and Ethiopia in 2018 and 2019 have spent years seeking public trials, prosecution of former company officials, and more serious financial punishments for Boeing.
“The DOJ has proposed fines and financial reparations to the victim’s families, but the families I represent argue that it is more important for Boeing to be held responsible for the public flying,” Paul Cassell, a lawyer for many of the long-term cases, said in a statement earlier this week.
Democrats Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal told the Justice Department in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi that the company and its executives “a serious mistake is to avoid accountability.”
Boeing was accused of misleading the Federal Aviation Administration of its biggest aspect before the agency certified the plane. Boeing did not inform airlines and pilots about the new software system called MCAS. This will lower the plane’s nose without input from the pilot if the sensor detects that the plane could enter an aerodynamic stall.
The maximum plane crashed as a false reading from the sensor pushed its nose down and the pilot couldn’t regain control. After the second crash, Max Jets were grounded all over the world, with the MCA redesigning the MCAS to become powerful, using signals from not only one but two sensors.
The Justice Department in 2021 deceived FAA regulators about software that didn’t exist in the old 737, and asked if pilots needed to fly planes safely. The department agreed not to indict Boeing at the time, but took steps to comply with the anti-burn law for three years if it paid a $2.5 billion settlement, including a $243.6 million fine.
However, federal prosecutors said last year that Boeing violated the terms of its 2021 contract by not making the promised changes to detect and prevent violations of the federal anti-combustion laws. Boeing agreed last July to plead guilty to felony fraud charges, rather than enduring a potentially long public trial.
However, in December, Fort Worth US District Judge Reed O’Connor refused the plea deal. The judge said the government and Boeing’s diversity, inclusion, equity or DEI could be a factor in choosing a monitor to oversee Boeing’s agreement compliance.
The plea bargain called for an independent monitor to be appointed to oversee Boeing’s safety and quality procedures for three years. Under the contract announced Friday, Boeing will need to retain “independent compliance consultants” and make recommendations for “further improvements” and report them to the government.
Original issue: May 23, 2025, 3:12pm EDT
