Boeing agrees to plead guilty to criminal fraud over fatal 737 MAX crashes: DOJ

The Department of Justice reported on Sunday evening that Boeing plans to plead guilty to criminal fraud stemming from two fatal 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019 that killed 346 people, the Associated Press reported.

Boeing was accused of violating a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement with the DOJ that protected the company from criminal charges for more than three years. Under that settlement, Boeing was asked to revise its compliance practices and submit to regular reporting.

'Set the matter for a public trial.'

Last week, the DOJ offered Boeing a plea deal that required the aircraft manufacturer to plead guilty to conspiring to defraud the Federal Aviation Administration and pay a fine. Boeing allegedly "deceived" the FAA's Aircraft Evaluation Group "about an important aircraft part called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) that impacted the flight control system of the Boeing 737 MAX," the department reported.

Boeing has reportedly agreed to the deal and will pay $243.6 million, the same amount the company paid in the previous 2021 settlement that the DOJ claimed it violated. The company must also submit to third-party safety and quality audits for three years.

According to the DOJ, the plea agreement only pertains to Boeing's actions before the two fatal crashes and does not provide immunity for incidents that occurred afterward, including a mid-flight door panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines plane earlier this year. Additionally, the agreement only covers the corporation and does not include its current or former officials.

The 2021 settlement was slated to expire two days after the incident with the Alaska Airlines flight. A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found that the aircraft likely left Boeing's factory without the key bolts needed to hold the panel in place.

Boeing is expected to enter its guilty plea in the U.S. District Court in Texas. The judge overseeing the case accused the corporation of "egregious criminal conduct."

Boeing said in a recent statement, "We can confirm that we have reached an agreement in principle on terms of a resolution with the Justice Department, subject to the memorialization and approval of specific terms."

Relatives of the victims of the two fatal crashes were briefed last week about the DOJ's plea offer to Boeing. At the time, Paul Cassell, an attorney representing the relatives, said they plan to ask the judge to reject the "sweetheart plea deal," Blaze News previously reported.

Cassell stated he would ask the judge to "simply set the matter for a public trial, so that all the facts surrounding the case will be aired in a fair and open forum before a jury."

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