Justice Department to offer Boeing plea agreement in fatal crash charges

The U.S. Justice Department on Sunday told Boeing that it can either accept a plea agreement or face a trial over criminal fraud charges, according to Reuters. The department found that Boeing violated a 2021 agreement shielding it from prosecution after two fatal crashes involving 737 Max jets that killed 346 people in 2018 and 2019. That settlement required the company to pay $500 million to the victims’ families and more than $1.7 billion to customers who could not take delivery of the jets during a nearly two-year global ban on the model.

Federal officials in May said Boeing violated the agreement by failing to set up and enforce a compliance and ethics program to detect potential violations of U.S. fraud laws. Boeing denied the claims.

What does the plea deal include? The proposal would require Boeing to pay a more than $240 million fine, invest in safety improvements, and be observed for three years by an external monitor. Paul G. Cassell and Mark Lindquist, lawyers for the families of the crash victims, on Sunday shared the details with The New York Times. Boeing has until the end of the week to respond to the deal, Cassell said.

What else is happening with Boeing? The aerospace company on Monday said that it had agreed to buy its supplier, Spirit AeroSystems. The manufacturer came under scrutiny this year after a door plug it installed on a Boeing 737 Max 9 plane detached from an Alaska Airlines flight shortly after takeoff. Airbus will acquire the part of Spirit that manufactures components for the European aircraft manufacturer.

Dig deeper: Listen to Mary Muncy’s report on The World and Everything in It podcast about how Boeing has had to make adjustments to salvage its reputation for safety.